


Beyond Summer

by sanhascroissant



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: 00 line best friend group out there, Best Friends, Childhood Friends, Cute Kids, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Getting Together, M/M, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Lee Jeno, Oblivious Na Jaemin, Pranks, Sad Na Jaemin, Slow Burn, Soft Na Jaemin, Summer Camp, codependent friendships, slow burn is me trying to start a fire but all i have is wet sticks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-02-26 19:27:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 51,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21613951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanhascroissant/pseuds/sanhascroissant
Summary: In Jaemin's opinion, being a Summer Camp Counselor comes with a lot of perks. There's the cute kids, the time he gets to spend with his best friends in the entire world, and of course, Lee Jeno.But summer always comes to an end.
Relationships: Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Comments: 74
Kudos: 255
Collections: ’00 FIC FEST: ROUND ONE





	1. 0 Week

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt #0030
> 
> For my prompter: I hope you enjoy! For the readers: I look forward to hearing all your thoughts and opinions on my fic, it's my baby! 
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> -Robin  
> (@sanhascroissant on twt)

**_Welcome to Sweet Dream Summer Camp!  
_** _Speed Limit is_ **_5 mph.  
_** _If you are a visitor, check in at the office!_  
 _ALL campers must register in the Boxcar!  
_ ******_Enjoy your stay!_**

The familiar sign is welcoming to Jaemin’s tired eyes as he drives across the bridge, his windows down and a bright smile already threatening to stretch across his face. Up here, the air is clean and fresh, and the creek is flowing steadily under the bridge, gurgling happily, the sound music to Jaemin’s ears. The summer is about to begin, and Renjun is already standing in his way, waving a plastic lightsaber like an air traffic controller, directing him towards the parking lot.

Jaemin leans out the window as much as he dares. “I think I’ve been here enough to know the way to the parking lot!”

Renjun rolls his eyes and continues to wave Jaemin in the right direction, but before he can hold it back, a smile begins to creep across his face. Jaemin, already pulling away, gasps. “Is that a smile, Huang Renjun? You did miss me!”

Renjun just laughs. The parking lot is practically empty, but that’s fairly par for the course. Jaemin enjoys the feeling of greeting everyone as they come back, but no matter how hard he tries, he’s never able to beat Renjun. Jaemin has pouted about it plenty in the past, and he maintains that it’s only because Renjun has the advantage. After all, he lives only twenty minutes away, and Jaemin has to drive a whole _three hours._

At this, Renjun had scoffed. “No, it’s because you can’t help posting when you’re leaving for camp. All I have to do is watch your snapchat and I know exactly when to leave to get here before you.” Jaemin had, in typical Jaemin fashion, gaped at Renjun, scandalized, before dropping the act with a beaming smile.

The same smile adorns his face now as Jaemin hops out of the car, a spring in his step. His shoes crunch across the gravel as it gives way to concrete, and before long he’s giving Renjun a proper hug, the mesh of his orange vest scratching against Jaemin’s bare arms.

Renjun endures it, partially because Renjun will pretty much endure anything for Jaemin, and partially because they both know well enough that they have to get all of their hugs out of the way before the campers arrive next week. 

“Renjun, you are a sight for sore eyes,” Jaemin says, grinning even wider if such a thing were possible. He winks, and Renjun pretends to gag.

“Na Jaemin. You disgust me.” It would have almost been convincing, too, had the words not been dripping with barely concealed fondness. Renjun smirks, tilting his head to one side. “Welcome to Camp!” it’s accompanied by the jazz hands (typical for camp) and a lot of sarcasm (not so typical). 

Jaemin laughs aloud. “Welcome to Camp!” he says, doing the jazz hands back with 100% sincerity. “Let’s make it a great one!”

»»——⍟——««

0 Week, the training week, is, as per usual, the most relaxed week of the summer. It’s not Jaemin’s favorite week for no reason. The staff has all arrived, and the first day is filled with elated hugs and bubbling chatter as they catch up, swapping stories of their past year at work and school, and they acquaint themselves with the newbies.

Jaemin’s pulling his bag into his staff cabin when he comes face to face with a surprised Yangyang, a t-shirt in his arms as he pulls clothes from his bag to lay them on his bunk. 

“Jaemin!” Yangyang beams, dropping the t-shirt in favor of throwing himself into Jaemin’s waiting arms. “My god, how are you? You were literally so busy last year, it was like total radio silence dude!”

Jaemin sighs, sinking into the hug. “Yangyang, you have no idea how relieved I am that it’s summer.” 

Yangyang pulls back and snickers. “That makes two of us. God, if I had to look at even one more math problem this year, I’d seriously commit murder.”

“Your fault for being a math minor,” Jaemin says, smiling as he pulls his bag over to the other empty bunk. 

“Says you, mister Medical Student,” Yangyang scoffs, sitting down on his own bunk, crushing his clothes, his unpacking completely forgotten in favor of the conversation.

“You got me there.” Jaemin kicks his bag under the bunk and sits down across from Yangyang. “Hey, is the whole squad back? Like, I saw Renjun when I came in, Koeun was doing check-in, Yiyang was early so I saw her when she came in, and Hyuck grabbed me before dinner, but I haven’t seen Jeno —” 

“He’s coming, he’ll just be a few days late. We texted a bit last week.” Yangyang relaxes, putting a hand down on the bunk behind him. “Good to know that you’re the same old Jaemin, obsession with Jeno and all.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jaemin mutters, a frown crossing his features. He looks down, away from Yangyang, and begins fiddling with the bracelets circling his wrist — years of knotted friendship bracelets, one for each summer at camp. Yangyang’s smile drops, replaced by something a little more concerned. 

“What the heck? What’s wrong?”

“What do you mean?” Jaemin’s eyes flicker back up to meet Yangyang’s, his fingers still playing with the friendship bracelets. 

“I mean —” Yangyang trails off, and he dithers for a moment, his hands moving jerkily backwards, his brow furrowed in thought. “That’s not really a normal Jaemin response. Typically your Jeno denial comes in the form of a forced smile and insistence that you’re just ‘ _best friends_ ’.” Yangyang punctuates the statement with finger quotes, and Jaemin resists the urge to roll his eyes. “Something’s up, man. I know you well enough to know that for sure.”

“Nothing’s up,” Jaemin says, and the tone is a little rougher, harsher than usual. “Jeno and I are just friends. Maybe my patience just ran out for the constant implication that it’s more than that.”

“But it _is_ more than that,” Yangyang starts to say, leaning towards Jaemin with desperate intention. “I literally cannot fathom how you fail to see that, especially after _all these years_ —”

Jaemin cuts him off with a glare. “There’s nothing with me and Jeno, okay?” 

And Yangyang backs off, because Jaemin’s voice is brittle, and he’s already retreating backwards, away from Yangyang, a wobbly smile forced onto his face. He takes a deep breath and the smile becomes steadier. “Seriously, Yangyang. We’re just friends, nothing more or less.”

Yangyang frowns, but because he’s the best, he doesn’t push. He just shrugs and says, “Well, okay, if you say so,” and the conversation turns to other things.

»»——⍟——««

When Wednesday rolls around, Jeno finally makes his grand entrance. 

It would be a lie to say that they haven’t all been waiting for him: on Tuesday night the gang met up in Donghyuck, Renjun, and soon-to-be-Jeno’s staff cabin to play some Monopoly, bemoaning the fact that their rulebook wasn’t there. 

Jeno had, upon playing monopoly with them for the first time during their first Bridge Week in junior year, lamented over their shared hatred of Monopoly. “No one plays that game right,” He had complained, crossing his arms and sinking back into the couch. “When played correctly, Monopoly takes two hours _maximum_."

“Oh yeah?” Donghyuck had challenged, Mark rolling his eyes next to him on the sofa. “Bet.” So they’d played together the first time, and to their collective surprise, by using the correct rules, they finished barely under the one hour mark.

So they’d played Monopoly in his honor, despite not really knowing the rules as well as he did, and taking a lot longer than the supposed two hours max. 

“Five players is the optimal number for Monopoly, especially when one of them’s Jeno,” Yangyang had said, looking positively contrite as he sprawled across Renjun’s bed, his arms and head hanging off so he could participate in the game, “You can’t change my mind.”

“I wouldn’t even try,” Donghyuck laments. “I don’t think I’ve collected $200 for passing GO in almost three rounds. Regrettably, it appears I actually need Jeno’s obnoxious reminders.”

Needless to say, it had been a pathetic game. 

By the time Jeno arrives on Wednesday morning, the staff is already at breakfast, and his entrance into the dining hall is met with cheers, applause and an almost deafening “ _WELCOME TO CAMP,_ ” lead by Taeyong himself. Jeno just grins and waves, eye smile as bright as always before he grabs some food, walks over, and sinks into the empty seat between Renjun and Yangyang. The two of them immediately pull him into a hug. Yangyang is grinning from ear to ear and Renjun is struggling not to look as pleased as he is. Jaemin himself is growing giddy with the shared excitement and anticipation. With Jeno here, it feels like summer’s about to really get started.

“Hey guys!” Jeno is smiling brightly around their table. They've been joined by Mark, a member of their junior year bridge family, Chenle, a member of their senior year bridge family, and Jisung, a member of _Chenle’s_ senior year bridge family who Jaemin is now practically co-parenting with Renjun’s reluctant help. 

Bridge, one of the most magical camps at camp, is open to only juniors and seniors and is designed to teach kids how to counsel and give them the opportunity to do so. By the time they’d all graduated, they were ready to apply for staff, feeling both comfortable and excited knowing that they had friends already waiting for them. Jaemin loved all the members of his two bridge families, but there’s no denying that he felt the bond more strongly with the people he’d done it with twice. 

But hey, they’re all equal on staff, and Jaemin loves them all so much, even Jisung. They never had bridge with each other, but they’ve been on staff together twice now, and Jisung is practically Jaemin’s son at this point. 

Jeno seems thrilled to see them all again, his eye smile never abating as he scans their table and the rest of the room, clearly happy to see so many familiar faces. 

“I swear, the minute that we’re done with breakfast I’m giving you all the biggest hugs ever. I missed you all so much,” Jeno’s practically whining, tugging on Renjun’s sleeve. Renjun rolls his eyes. 

“Sappy idiot.” He pauses. “But same.” They all laugh, and Jaemin joins in, his heart light. Jeno’s here, and all is right with the world.

“So what’d I miss?” Jeno’s already attacking his eggs like a man starved, and Donghyuck does everyone the favor of commenting on it first.

“Jesus, Jeno, that’s disgusting. I think that’s a new record for how fast you’ve turned me off.” Donghyuck grimaces and Chenle lets out a high-pitched giggle, hiding behind his hand. “But to answer your question, we’ve been through the characteristics of different age groups, free time rules, emergency protocols and procedures, challenge course etiquette, secondary jobs, and general health.”

“Oh, like hygiene and homesickness and stuff?” Jeno is really not relenting on those eggs. Jaemin rolls his eyes and slides him a napkin. Jeno thanks him with a smile. 

“Yeah,” Donghyuck responds, sharing an exasperated look with Renjun and Yangyang, his eyes flickering between Jeno and Jaemin. He refocuses and says seriously, “I think today’s the hard day.” 

The table falls silent, and Jeno grimaces, putting down his fork. Jaemin can feel a lump rising in his throat and his tablemates avoid eye contact. 

The hard day is rough. The protocol for what to do if you encounter abuse, how to protect yourself from child molestation accusations, how to avoid triggering subjects during meals and cabin talks, how to maintain 100% confidentiality, how to discuss serious mental health concerns and help the child feel safe and get help, how to fill out and file an incident report… Some things that Taeyong has had to file reports for turn his stomach. The idea of anyone harming a child is a hard reality to comprehend.

“The hard day sucks,” Jisung says, pouting down at his own eggs, and it’s so candid that it breaks the tension. There are some halfhearted chuckles, and Jeno begins to eat his eggs again, even if he’s going a lot slower than before.

“You’re right,” Mark says. “But better to be safe than sorry.” And boy, doesn’t that ring true. They all nod, resolute. They care about their campers. More than anything, Jaemin just wants his campers to experience the same sense of fun and security that he experienced coming to camp, and the only way to ensure that is the hard day. And on that note, they returned to their breakfasts and catching up with Jeno.

»»——⍟——««

Unfortunately, Hyuck was right about it being the hard day, and by the time the day’s training is over, the staff is buzzing with desire to let loose and have some fun after so much serious talk. So of course, it’s Watermelon Ball time. 

To play Watermelon Ball, one must first have a watermelon, a pool, and a group of willing people. The watermelon is wrapped in foil so if it cracks, it doesn’t get in the water and cause a huge headache for that year’s lifeguard (this year, it’s Yangyang). Basically, the idea is to throw the watermelon around and score by placing (“Not throwing, Yuta!”) the watermelon on the other team’s side of the pool deck. You can pass underwater, you can dribble it like a basketball, you can throw it violently through the air. Whatever it takes to score is fair game.

Watermelon Ball used to be played as a camp game, but with campers, Watermelon Ball was just too dangerous. Too many bloody noses and not enough explanations to pacify the parents. So naturally, the staff now plays it alone.

Needless to say, it’s not a game without risks, but they still play it every year without fail, once at the start of the summer with some degree of caution since no one wants to be injured and go home, and then again at the end of the summer with reckless abandon. Some of the most aggressive bruises Jaemin’s had in his life have come from the end of summer Watermelon Ball game. It’s always been interesting to have to explain to his classmates that yes, he got this gnarly yellow and purple bruise by having a watermelon chucked at him at a high velocity while he was swimming in a pool. That’s the kind of wild life he’s living.

Yeah, maybe it’s gotten him some weird looks. But Jaemin maintains that you haven’t lived until you’ve played a proper game of Watermelon Ball.

As per usual, the coordinators have abstained, and Jaehyun looks particularly put out that he can’t participate this year now that he’s in charge of Adventure Camp, the youngest group. But that’s what you get for advancing in the business world, Jaemin thinks. More responsibilities and a lot less fun. 

But Jaehyun still seems eager to watch the match. Even Ten, Challenge Course coordinator and year-round teacher naturalist, has emerged from whatever shadows he usually slinks around in to join him on the pool deck for some cheap entertainment, coming in the form of college-aged kids chucking a slippery watermelon at one another in a desperate bid for glory. 

Taeyong, Activities Director and All-Around Best Person Ever, grins as he counts them off, dividing them into teams, the watermelon in his other hand, tucked safely under his arm. Jaemin finds himself on the same team as Hyuck, facing off against Renjun, Jeno, and Yangyang, who look poised to kill. However, after looking around more at his own team, Jaemin is gratified to see that he has Sicheng on his team, and Sicheng could squash Yangyang like a bug if he felt so inclined. 

Taeyong stands by the edge of the pool deck, right in between the two teams, holding the watermelon and briefly explaining the rules. “The coordinators, that is to say, myself, Taeil, Jaehyun, Doyoung, Johnny, Kun, and Ten, will act as referees. I trust,” Taeyong says, his eyes flashing as he pulls the watermelon back like he’s not already holding it out of their reach, “That you will exercise a healthy dose of caution as you play.” He shoots a pointed glare at Lucas. 

“Taeyong, that was _one time!”_ Lucas groans and slaps the water in Taeyong’s general direction. “And it’s not like I was _trying_ to break my nose, I’m pretty sure Guanheng was the one who threw the watermelon directly at my face without warning.” Guanheng, who had been floating beside him, gasps in mock offense. 

“Well, I never,” he says, fanning his face with an overdone scandalized expression before the pool explodes into laughter. Taeyong just sighs, seemingly aware that this is a battle he lost long ago. 

“Well, everyone keep your hand on the pool deck — yes, I can see that hand drifting off Nakamoto Yuta, put that back on the ledge or _so help me god_ —” Yuta pouts and puts his hand back on the pool deck, Dejun snickering at him from beside him. “Alright! On your marks, get set…” 

Taeyong squats a little bit, hoists his arms back up and throws the watermelon up into the air. For a glorious moment it sails through the sky, but it makes contact with the water with a splash. Taeyong yells, “Go!” and the game is on. 

All of the staff swims out to the watermelon, and in moments they’re a mess of limbs and disembodied voices, all grasping for the ball. It seems almost like Hyuck has it for a moment, but then Jaemin blinks and it’s been wrested from his hands by Chenle, who dives under the water and sends it shooting under the water straight to Jungwoo, passing through several people’s legs.

Yeah, maybe Chenle isn’t on his team, but Jaemin can’t help but feel proud. That was a top-notch pass. Jungwoo neatly pulls the watermelon out of the water and places it on the pool deck with a plop. As Taeyong awards them a point, the opposing team cheers while Jaemin’s own sinks under the water, groaning. Chenle lets out a characteristic dolphin shriek and throws his arms around Jungwoo in victory. 

Hyuck is clearly upset at their loss, and in typical Hyuck fashion, his groans are the loudest of all. In fact, in the chaos after the point score as they’re all resetting, Hyuck swims up beside him and mutters, “Yo, next round you take Jeno. Mark’s on Yangyang and Sicheng’s taking Yuta and Renjun to leave me open to get the ball.” 

Jaemin’s smile creeps across his face as he appraises the opposing team members directly across from them. He grins and meets Hyuck’s eyes. Wet strands of hair are falling in his face, but Donghyuck is determined, his skin glowing in the afternoon sun. Jaemin meets his gaze with equal determination. 

He’s pretty sure Donghyuck just likes to win so he can have the pleasure of holding it over everyone’s heads later, crowing and teasing them for days or even weeks on end. After all, Donghyuck himself has said that his speciality is being annoying. Jaemin, on the other hand, likes the adrenaline rush that comes with a fair and square victory. But regardless of their reasons, if there’s one thing he and Hyuck have in common it’s an insatiable desire to win, and win by a lot. It's what makes them such a good team.

The minute the watermelon hits the water, Jaemin is off, swimming off towards Jeno like a shot and blocking him with his whole body.

“ _Oof —_ ” Jeno’s knocked a bit back on impact, and Jaemin braces his shoulders with his palms on instinct, keeping him from completely toppling. Before long, Jeno’s pushing back, and it takes all of his strength to even try to stop Jeno from rejoining the fray. The water here only comes up to their collarbones, and the struggle between them is whipping it up into a frenzy, beginning to spray their necks and chins.

On land, Jaemin would have long since lost, so he silently thanks the water for it’s buoyant properties as he and Jeno tussle back and forth. Jeno’s hair is black now, the strands dripping in dark contrast to Jaemin’s own pink. His eyes grow only more resolute the longer Jaemin resists. 

“Alright,” Jeno finally grits out. “That’s enough.” Suddenly, without warning, he drops and football tackles Jaemin around the waist, hoisting him out of the water. Jaemin, completely unprepared, shrieks and nearly topples all the way over into some kind of fireman’s lift before he catches his balance. 

“ _LEE JENO!_ You put me down right this instant!” Jaemin would sound threatening if he wasn’t struggling to speak through laughter, beaming while slapping Jeno halfheartedly on the back and trying to kick water into his face. Jeno only grins and adjusts his grip, pushing Jaemin further into the air. 

“You really want me to let you down?” Jeno smirks and Jaemin knows what’s about to happen a moment before it does. “Okay then, Nana, your wish is my command!” Jeno throws Jaemin back down into the water despite Jaemin’s loud protests. When he surfaces, he sees Donghyuck putting the watermelon neatly on the opposing team’s side of the pool. He raises a fist in victory and cheers before turning to Jeno, who looks far too pleased with himself.

“Lee Jeno, you know that wasn’t what I meant!” Jaemin’s pouting, but all Jeno can seem to do is laugh. Meanie. Jaemin crosses his arms and tilts his head to the side. 

“I know, I know, but it was a lot more fun, you have to admit,” Jeno says, placatingly, and then Taeyong’s ordering them back to their team’s sides to begin the next round. 

(Spoiler alert: He and Donghyuck do win. By a lot.)

»»——⍟——««

“So what the fuck are we doing out at this hour?” Renjun sounds put out and looks miserable. The night is cold up on the overlook and it’s clear that he’s shivering, though he’s trying to hide it by scrunching down into his jacket. “Plus, where the hell are Jeno and Jaemin? I’d have thought they’d be included on a daring night hike to see the stars, it’s totally their speed.”

Donghyuck shakes his head, even his golden skin appearing pale in the shimmering moonlight. “No way, man. I gathered us here together,” he says, gesturing around to himself, a freezing Renjun, and a mostly just confused looking Yangyang, “to figure out what the hell we’re going to do about those two. Their pining has gone on way longer than is healthy.” 

“I mean, I couldn’t argue with you if I tried, so I won’t bother,” Yangyang says, shrugging as he sits down on the rocks. The other two join him and they gaze out over the valley, the trees outlined against the starry night sky. Out here the sky is dark, free from light pollution. “But Jaemin seemed really touchy about it when I brought it up Saturday.”

“That’s not really anything new,” Renjun comments mildly, snuggling deeper into his coat until the tip of his nose is barely visible. 

“Trust me, it was. He seemed a lot more upset. He didn’t really deny it… Well, he did but.” Yangyang stops and studies the stars, lost in thought. Donghyuck turns to him expectantly and Yangyang lets out a frosty sigh, looking back at the dirt. “It was different. A lot more fragile, like I’d really hit a sore spot.”

“I don’t see how it could be any sorer than last summer, or the summer before that one, or the summer before that,” Hyuck insists, his eyes flashing in the darkness. “Jaemin’s been pining after Jeno since he met him in Buccaneer as a gangly middle schooler. What’s different about this summer?” Hyuck’s voice is almost exasperated. Yangyang nods along, and Renjun hums affirmatively.

“Obviously I see where you’re coming from, man,” Yangyang says, shoving his hands in his pockets. “But there was definitely something weird. Jaemin was giving off some pretty bad vibes.”

Silence falls. The sound of crickets chirping echo up from the valley below. 

Renjun shuffles and sighs. “They’re pathetic,” he finally says. “They need help.”

“Yes!” Donghyuck throws his arms around Renjun, who just rolls his eyes. “I knew you had sense Renjun! It’s not like we’ll _hurt_ them, we’ll just try to, you know. Meddle a bit. Make sure they have as much _bonding time_ as possible this summer.”

Yangyang was clearly still skeptical, still wary after how Jaemin had reacted on Monday. But he thinks of Jaemin’s eyes, shining with affection for Jeno when he passed him a napkin, of his joyful screams when Jeno picked him up in the pool, of them snuggling on the couch that same night and playing with one set of cards during their group’s halfhearted game of go-fish, of Jeno lending Jaemin his hoodie after campfire when Jaemin had only pouted and mentioned that he was feeling a bit chilly. Most of all he thinks of the literal years of longing gazes they’d exchanged and the constant assault of sappy not-quite-PDA he’d had to deal with last summer alone and okay. Maybe Renjun’s right, they need the help.

“I’m tentatively in,” Yangyang says.

“Whatever,” Hyuck says and his smile is shining bone-white in the moonlight, stretched all the way across his face. “As long as we’re all in. All or nothing.”

Renjun tips his water bottle to them. “For Jeno and Jaemin, that they finally realize that they’ve been stupid and they obviously have been in love with one another since middle school.”

They all put their hands together and Donghyuck says some kind of long and pretentious vow and just like that the deal’s sealed: This summer will be the summer of Jeno and Jaemin if their friends have anything to say about it. 


	2. Week One

Camp starts off with a bang as it always does, the staff receiving their camp assignments, the staffers who are out of program for the week running around frantically to set up for registration, and the various camps having meetings in circles on the grass before the kids arrive.

“Welcome to Adventure Camp!” Jaehyun grins and the counselors cheer. Jaemin leans back on his hands in the grass, smile wide on his face. He _loves_ Adventure Camp. “I’m Jaguar Jaehyun, and I’m the coordinator this week! We’re a pretty cool camp, we get to hang out with the little ones and wear fun vests and have adventure-y names! I’m really excited to work with all of you guys, so let’s go around in a circle and introduce ourselves and what you’re looking forward to! Starting with…” Jaehyun looks to his left and right and then settles on his left. “Jungwoo!”

Jungwoo waves a hand, a small smile on his face. “Hey guys. I’m Jackal Jungwoo, I’m one of the Lead Counselors for Adventure this week, and I’m super excited to get to work with some kids who are just a little bit older since last year I mostly did childcare.” The circle nods understandingly. The childcare kids were really babies, they weren’t really even considered in program, so while they were cute, a lot of the time people prefer to be assigned in program so they can participate in all camp activities and meet more kids. 

“That’s cool, Jungwoo! I’m Liger Lucas, I’m the other LC!” Jaemin stifles a laugh. Next to the seemingly reserved Jungwoo, Lucas is like an overexcited puppy, almost bouncing with unconfined energy beside him. “I’m looking forward to Adventure Camp because it’s my first time LCing, and last summer I mostly did Buccaneer or High School, so I’m excited to try something new!” Buccaneer camp makes sense for Lucas — Jaemin is kind of surprised he isn’t in Buccaneer again. With all those high energy hikes and hardcore night games, Buccaneer seems right up Lucas’s alley. Still, Jaemin has long since learned not to underestimate the sheer unbridled energy of Adventure Campers, so maybe, between Lucas’s endless energy and Jungwoo’s endless patience, they’d have a pretty balanced leadership team. 

Yuta laughs to Lucas’s left. He’s sprawled out on the grass, propped up by his elbows. “Hey, I’m Yak Yuta. And before you ask, yes, I’m Yak Yuta because there are no other animals starting with Y, and I’ve accepted that I have to share this adventure name with Yangyang if he ever does Adventure Camp.” He smiles, and something about it puts Jaemin at ease. It’s one of the many reasons Yuta works with the younger kids. “I do Adventure Camp every year almost, when I’m not an LC for Buccaneer or High School, and I love it to pieces, so I’m just glad to be back!” 

“Hey! I’m Jellyfish Jaemin, this is my third time doing Adventure Camp, so I’m excited to be doing it again!” Jaemin grins around the circle. The excitement for the start of the summer is palpable, and it seems as though no one can contain their anticipation, eyes sparkling as they smile back at him. 

“Hi you guys, I’m Hyena Hyorin, and I’m excited because this is my first summer on staff! I never got to do Adventure Camp as a camper, so I can’t wait to discover all the secrets this year!” The girl beside Jaemin smiles shyly, and Jaemin vaguely remembers her from a few summers ago when she was in Koeun’s cabin for High School Camp. 

“Hiya! I’m Stegosaurus Sana! I’m here for my second summer and I only got to counsel Adventure for one week last year so I’m looking forward to doing it again now that I’m more prepared.”

“Awesome! I think that’s everyone, so let’s get down to the boring stuff!”Jaehyun grins around the circle and reaches behind him for a stack of plain canvas vests. As he passes them out he says, “In Adventure Camp we get to wear vests with our adventure names on the back. Some of you may already have adventure vests if you counseled this camp last year, so if you have them already feel free to use them! Let’s meet back here in two hours to start registration and walking the kids and parents up the hill. Feel free to help out with setup, but we want to be back for registration so we can walk with them and show them around, it’ll help put everyone at ease and ready for a super fun week at camp!” He puts his hand in the circle and everyone joins in. 

“Okay team, break!” 

»»——⍟——««

Jaemin could barely contain his excitement as they returned to the bottom of the hill for registration. Jaemin had gotten his vest from his staff cabin, and now he was more than ready to meet the campers and get the summer started. 

Things started off normal. Jaemin walked some kids up the hill, taught them the rules of the cargo net, showed the yurts to the parents, and helped the kids come up with their adventure names and get started on their own adventure vests. The hours ticked on, the clock moving closer and closer to dinner time and Jaemin’s cabin list slowly started filling up as he checked off kids one by one until there was only one more kid that hadn’t arrived. 

Registration time came and went, and it was time to go to dinner, but Jaemin was still missing a camper. Jaehyun pulled him aside and told him to wait with Jungwoo for the last kid, and that he and Lucas would take the rest of the camp to dinner. Now, nearly twenty minutes and three games of chopsticks between himself and Jungwoo later, the kid is still nowhere to be seen, and Jaemin is getting seriously hungry. 

Just when Jaemin is ready to give up all hope, Jungwoo's radio chirps and Johnny's voice comes over the speaker, crackly and muffled. 

"Jungwoo, do you copy, Jungwoo?" Jungwoo abandons their fourth game of chopsticks and scoops the radio up from the top of the picnic table. He presses the button on the side. 

"This is Jungwoo."

"Hey, we have the last adventure camper now. He's just getting checked in, but if you guys start heading down the hill now he should be just about finished by the time you get here."

"Thanks Johnny. Jungwoo out." He stands and Jaemin scrambles up from the picnic table to join him as Jungwoo slides the radio into his pocket. "Well, let's go get him I guess. The faster we go, the faster we eat."

"Amen to that one," Jaemin says, sighing. They start the trek down the hill, the trees towering up around them. The only sound is their feet hitting the dirt with soft thumps as they walk, the dust displaced and small stones stumbling out of their path as they go. Above them the sky is slowly darkening, the sun beginning to edge towards the horizon. 

By the time they step onto the asphalt of the main road, Johnny is already there, waiting with a small family. The mother is standing tall, looking around. By her feet, there are two small children. One, a little girl, is curiously gazing around at the camp, eyes wide open and sparkling with excitement. The second child, a little boy and most certainly Jaemin's missing camper, stands behind his mother's legs, tiny fists clinging to the end of her jacket and eyes fixed on the ground. Jaemin can see him trembling just the slightest bit and he can feel his heart break. He leans down on one knee.

"Hey there buddy, what's your name? I'm Jellyfish Jaemin, I'm gonna be your counselor."

The little boy peeks out and blinks, eyes wide but curious and he opens his mouth to answer when —

"His name is Alex." His mother's voice is shrill, and Alex immediately retreats behind her legs again, shutting himself off from Jaemin. Jaemin resists the urge to snap at her. _I was talking to your son, not you._

"Ah, very nice." Jaemin tries again. He taps Alex's little fist and once again, Alex leans around his mother to look Jaemin in the eyes. "Hey there Alex," Jaemin says, soft and gentle so he doesn't scare him. "What's your favorite color?"

"It's green," his mother cuts in again. Behind her, Johnny winces and even Jungwoo, usually ever sweet-tempered, frowns. 

"Well, let's head up the hill, why don't we?" Jungwoo says, false cheer in his voice. Johnny waves goodbye, eyes screaming, _Good fucking luck with that one._ Reluctantly, Jaemin straightens, standing up and away from Alex. 

"Adventure Camp is a super awesome camp because we get to live on a super fun hill away from everyone else!" Jaemin says, leading the way. Alex's sister bounces after him, eyes wide and excited as she stares up at the trees, mouth hanging open. 

"You get to live on a _hill_?" She squeals, rushing over and grabbing Jaemin's hand. "That's _so cool!"_

"Lily!" Jaemin grits his teeth. _This woman._ "Don't run, it's not safe. And don't hold a stranger's hand without asking. They might not like it." Lily drops Jaemin's hand like she's been burned and falls back to stand by her mother, eyes downcast. Alex walks beside his mother, and in his hands he holds some kind of case. Jaemin falls back to walk alongside him, slowing down until they're a short ways behind his mother, who has gotten caught up in a conversation with Jungwoo, who is all false smiles and excessive politeness. 

"What have you got there?" He asks. Alex blinks up at him. "In your case."

"Art stuff," Alex says, and his voice is so quiet, so small, that Jaemin almost misses it entirely. 

"Art? That's super cool. I have a friend who does art. His name is Rabbit Renjun, and he lives in the Craft Shack! Maybe we can meet him later if you want." Alex just blinks, but he doesn't run to hide behind his mother, so Jaemin considers it a success. 

They walk on for another minute and then suddenly Alex says, very nearly a whisper, ”I like your vest."

Jaemin beams. "Thank you Alex! We all get to wear one in Adventure Camp! I'm Jellyfish Jaemin so I decorated mine with a Jellyfish, see?" Jaemin shows him the secret jellyfish underneath one of the lapels, and Alex gasps. "But you can pick any adventure name you want, Alex. What do you want your adventure name to be?"

"Turtle Alex," he blurts. Jaemin grins, and Alex bows his head, tiny cheeks turned just the slightest shade of red. "I like turtles," he mumbles. 

"You should be Anteater Alex, sweetie," his mother interjects, voice condescending. She raises an eyebrow, and Jaemin screams internally. Jungwoo's distractions could only work for so long. "Turtle Alex doesn't make sense. Your name doesn't start with a T, does it?" 

"I think Turtle Alex is just fine!" Jaemin interjects, cutting her off as Alex's enthusiasm starts to wane, the light in his eyes dying and his shoulders slumping. "We can draw a bunch of turtles on your vest tomorrow at the Craft Shack with Rabbit Renjun. How does that sound?"

Alex smiles shyly up at Jaemin and brightens up, his fingers tightening around the handle of his art case. He nods, and Jaemin smiles gently back at him.

As they reach the top of the hill, Jaemin feels his good mood, temporarily dampened by Alex’s mother, returning. Maybe this isn’t a totally lost cause. He leads the small family across the common area up to their yurt and opens the door to let them through, smile plastered across his face the whole time. Jungwoo waves goodbye and retreats down the hill to rejoin the camp, Jaemin flashing a thumbs up before returning his focus to the yurt and its new inhabitant. 

The other boys have already set up their pads and sleeping bags in a circle all along the side of the yurt, their feet pointing inwards to the center where late afternoon sunlight trickles lazily through the skylight, dust particles suspended in the rays. “So we have an open space right over here,” Jaemin says, gesturing to a small space between Jaesun and Josh’s sleeping bags. “Since we’re late to dinner, I can help you set up your spot later!”

“Oh, it’ll only take a moment,” the mother says, placing Alex’s luggage down in the space. Jaemin’s smile remains frozen on his face as she unfolds an entire cot and proceeds to start making the bed, complete with sheets and even a duvet. As Jaemin watches her, he screams internally yet again. 

_Do you want your child to get heatstroke? Dear god._

Suddenly, she’s talking, yapping away instructions in Jaemin’s ear. “Alex has trouble falling asleep, you’re going to have to let him color for an hour or two before he sleeps, and rub his back as he drifts off —” Jaemin thinks about the hundreds of potential lawsuits he could face for rubbing Alex’s back as he falls asleep, her voice fading into grating background noise, his smile still fixed on his face and growing more forced by the second. _Yeah, that’s not going to happen._

But she isn’t done. “And if all else fails, his tablet is in the Redwood Center, so he can have that and he’ll knock right out.” It is at this moment that Jaemin makes an assumption that because this tablet is located in the Redwood Center, the medical center at camp, it’s some kind of sleeping pill. It’s not until later that he discovers from an unamused Sicheng that this woman had in fact, given them an _iPad_ , expecting them to allow her child to play on it for half an hour every night before bed, which, yeah, was _not going to happen._

“… Alex has a ton of dietary issues, so I’ve given the kitchen my own bread, peanut butter and jelly, and he also has supplemental smoothies. You hear that sweetie?” She finishes fluffing his pillow and pats his cheek, simpering. “If you don’t like the food, just ask and Jellyfish Jaemin will get you your smoothie, okay?” 

Alex nods, eyes wide. Jaemin is now fuming because whenever a parent says _dietary issues_ without putting anything on the kid’s registration form, they typically mean that the kid’s just picky, which is usually fine. Most kids are a little bit picky. But most kids also realize that camp food is the best option they’ve got, so they at least try to make do. But now that she’s told Alex that he doesn’t have to cope with camp food, he won’t even try. Jaemin feels a headache coming on. It’s going to be a long three days. 

Somehow by the grace of God himself, Jaemin finds enough strength to lead them out of the yurt and down the hill, a smile painted on his face. The sun has gone below the tree line, the light growing weaker, the sky fading into lilac. Jaemin sees a small flock of birds fly across a patch of open sky, heading home to sleep.

They get to the bottom of the hill and Jaemin can hear the sounds of the campers at dinner. His smile gets just a little bit more genuine. Not even the worst parent of all time can bring the mood down enough for him to be truly sad on the first day of camp. 

After Alex’s mom is done straightening his clothes and saying goodbye over and over again, Jaemin leads him down Nazarian, the main road, towards Vernon Hall for dinner. Small trees with red leaves line the road and the Big Green Field — or BGF for short — lives up to its name, sprawling down a small hill and into a large field. Alex’s knuckles are white on the handle of his art case, and the tenseness of his shoulders tugs on Jaemin’s heart. He feels pity well up inside him.

_Poor kid. His mother has babied him so much, this is probably terrifying._

They finally get to the dining hall, and Jaemin is exhausted already. He turns Alex over to Jungwoo and asks to eat dinner with resource. 

“That woman was exhausting,” Jungwoo sympathizes, rubbing his arm as they stand off to the side. 

“Believe me, she kicked it up a notch the moment you stepped out,” Jaemin says. “I swear I wanted death every moment after you left for Vernon.” Jungwoo winces. Jaemin frowns and leans in, remembering. “Also, the kid’s picky but his mom _told_ him that she left food with us.” Jungwoo curses.

“Shit. Yeah, go ahead and eat with resource. We can handle Alex for now.” 

Jaemin smiles, genuinely relieved. His shoulders relax and he gives Jungwoo’s arm a squeeze. “Thank you so much. Seriously.”

Jungwoo laughs. “It’s no problem! Now shoo, hang out with your friends.”

Jaemin grins and waves goodbye, taking his food and heading out of the hall to sit outside at the resource picnic benches. He sinks down beside Jeno and Sicheng, across from Yangyang. 

“Oh, hey Jaemin!” Jeno smiles and scoots over a little bit more to make some space, fork paused halfway to his mouth. “How was reg?”

Jaemin snorts, and takes a bite of ravioli. “Y’know, I‘m convinced I met a parent from hell today,” he says around the food. Yangyang and Sicheng look on sympathetically. Jeno puts his fork back down on the plate and hisses through his teeth, grimacing.

“Oh man, that sucks. On a scale of one to ten?”

Jaemin swallows and pauses for dramatic effect. “Eleven.” He takes another bite of ravioli and chews aggressively, thinking about Alex’s mom’s voice. He would literally do anything to strangle that woman so she could never speak again. 

He’s lost in the fantasy when Jeno clears his throat and Jaemin blinks, coming back to earth. “Well, if you need any help, I’m around,” Jeno says, his eyes fixed on his own plate. He hurriedly lifts another piece of ravioli to his mouth. 

“You don’t have to be shy Jeno, that’s really sweet,” Jaemin says, his heart melting in his chest. He glances around and narrows his eyes at Yangyang and Sicheng. “Don’t you dare tell another soul about this,” he says, and leans in to hug Jeno, who drops his fork in surprise. 

A moment later Jeno shifts and returns the hug, and Jaemin’s weak heart sings. “You’re gonna be okay Jaemin,” Jeno says. “You’re a great counselor. If anyone can deal with a problem child, it’s you.” Jaemin feels himself tearing up, the stress of the entire evening getting to him.

“Thanks Jeno,” he chokes out. After a while they let go, and Yangyang smiles.

“We’re all here for you, man,” he says. “Just ask.” Sicheng nods in agreement. 

“That lady was fucking annoying anyway,” he mutters. “Her poor kid’s gotta be a little messed up if she coddles him so much.”

“Oh man, yeah, you should’ve heard the dialogue that lady gave me when I was showing her the yurt…” Jaemin launches into the story, and the whole time Jeno’s hand rests on his thigh, a warm and comforting weight in the cool of the night.

»»——⍟——««

That night, Alex wakes up screaming.

Jaemin jolts awake, heart racing, and stumbles across the yurt to Alex, who is shaking like a leaf, breaths heavy in the confined space. He can hear the other campers waking up too, mumbling and also afraid of the loud sound, calling out for him. Jaemin’s mind spins, torn between dealing with Alex and the other campers who are now scared of the dark, some beginning to sniffle. In a snap decision, he stands up away from Alex, and leaves the yurt for the Jungle Hut with a promise to be back in just one moment. The Jungle Hut is the place where they have their counselor’s meetings in the morning but most importantly, it’s where they keep the radio.

He grabs it in a panic, already turning around to return to the yurt. “Jaehyun, do you copy, Jaehyun?” 

It crackles, and a moment later, Jaehyun’s voice, heavy with sleep, comes through the radio. “I copy. Seventeen?”

Jaemin switches channels and says, “Hey Jaehyun, I got a situation up here. Alex woke up screaming, I need backup.”

“On my way.” Jaemin can hear the rustle of sheets as Jaehyun gets up. “Hang in there as best you can, I’ll head up the hill.”

“Alright. Back to eighteen.”

Jaemin switches the radio back to the main channel and clips it to his pajama pants, rushing back into the yurt. The kids break out in chatter at his appearance, but Jaemin speaks immediately, tone holding no space for argument. “Okay everyone, I want you guys to get your flashlights and turn them on, pointing them up at the ceiling, okay?” The kids scramble to obey his instructions, and the yurt filled with light, letting Jaemin assess the situation.

Alex is in tears, cheeks shining in the new light, and Jaemin’s heart, still racing from the harsh awakening, nearly breaks with pity. He goes over to Alex and leans down on one knee. 

“Hey Alex. We’re gonna go sit outside for a little bit, okay? Just you and me.” Alex nods shakily, a small hand coming up to wipe away a stray tear. Jaemin reaches over and grabs one of the stuffed animals resting by Alex’s pillow. “We’ll bring your friend, okay? What’s their name?”

“B-Buddy.” Alex’s voice is choked with tears, nearly inaudible, but Jaemin just smiles reassuringly. 

“Buddy’s a very nice name,” Jaemin says, soothingly as he can muster while on the verge of a heart attack. “Now let’s go outside, okay?” He turns to the rest of the cabin. “I’ll be back in just one moment, okay you guys?” They nod, eyes wide, and Jaemin leaves the cabin with one of Alex’s hands in his, the other clutching Buddy. When they get outside Jaehyun is just cresting the hill, clearly having run all the way from the Bridge House at the bottom of the hill where the coordinators sleep.

Jaehyun takes Alex to the picnic benches, and Jaemin returns to the yurt and convinces the others to lay down and try to sleep. But the yurts are just glorified tents, so the rest Jaemin’s campers can hear Jaehyun’s deep voice as he speaks quietly to Alex, playing calming music on his phone and coloring with him. 

“Jellyfish Jaemin?” A quiet voice to his left asks. “Why does Alex get to hang out with Jaguar Jaehyun? We wanna hang out with Jaguar Jaehyun too.”

“Yeah!” Another voice across the yurt chimes in. “Jaguar Jaehyun is _cool_.”

Jaemin thinks about the time that Jaehyun laughed so hard that milk came out of his nose and begs to differ, but instead he just says, “Guys, it’s time to sleep now so we’re super rested and can have loads of fun at camp tomorrow! Can we at least try?”

“But Alex gets to hang out with Jaguar Jaehyun and we’re stuck with you!” Yet another voice whines. 

_Damn_. Jaemin tries not to let that one hurt. He knows that the kids just look up to Jaehyun, it’s not a personal attack against him. He sighs. 

“I’ll go talk to Jaguar Jaehyun.” The kids cheer quietly. “But while I’m gone you guys have to promise to try and sleep, okay?” They grumble out an okay and Jaemin lugs his tired and tense body up from the ground to confer with Jaehyun. 

When he gets out into the cold air, he crosses center camp to the picnic tables and stands a little off to the side, waiting for Jaehyun, who is talking quietly with Alex, to notice him. Jaehyun’s eyes flash up and he sees Jaemin. He says something to Alex, who nods, and he gets up to join Jaemin.

“Hey.”

“Hey. The kids can hear you guys, and I’m boring, they want to hang out with you,” Jaemin says. 

Jaehyun sighs, running a hand through his hair, eyes tired. “Yeah, things aren’t going so well on my end either. The mom said drawing and music helps him sleep, but it’s been twenty or so minutes and he doesn’t seem any more tired. I think we’re gonna have to relocate to the Redwood Center for tonight.”

“Yeah. I can go with him if you stay with my cabin. They’ll probably settle down with you watching them anyway, and I think you’ll get better rest if you stay with them. Chances are Alex is going to wake up again screaming a second time, and trust me, I’m not sleeping again tonight after that experience.” Jaemin shudders. “My heart is _still_ racing.”

Jaehyun winces. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that, it must have been terrifying. I’ll head into the yurt and get them under control, and how about you stay here with Alex and radio Buildings and Grounds to come up with the golf cart. They can take you two to the Redwood Center, just radio for the night nurse ahead of time.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Jaemin says, already pulling the radio from his pants. Jaehyun smiles tiredly and holds up a fist. 

“Let’s do this thing, then. Goodnight, Jaemin.”

“Night, Jaehyun.”

Jaemin watches Jaehyun walk back to Alex to say goodnight before bringing the radio close to his mouth and saying, “Jeno, do you copy Jeno?”

There’s silence for a moment, and for a second Jaemin is scared he won’t respond, that it’s actually Yangyang’s night to be on the radio, when suddenly Jeno’s voice comes on over the radio.

“I copy. Seventeen?”

“Seventeen,” Jaemin confirms and switches channels. “Hey, Jeno, it’s Jaemin.”

“Figured,” Jeno says, and yawns. “It’s that one camper, isn’t it?” 

“Yeah, he woke up screaming. Not great for my blood pressure,” Jaemin says. “We’re gonna need you up here with a golf cart, the kid and I are gonna be spending the night in the Redwood Center instead.” 

“You got it, I’m on my way right now.” Jaemin thinks that’s it and gets ready to switch back to eighteen, but then Jeno speaks again. “You feeling okay?”

Jaemin takes a shaky breath, letting some of his feelings about the past thirty minutes or so rush over him. “I will be,” he says honestly. “Right now I’m mostly concerned about Alex. It’ll be later tonight when I won’t be able to sleep that we’ll have a problem.” Jeno hums in understanding.

“I’ll stay with you two in the Redwood Center then,” he decides. 

“Oh, you don’t have to do that for me —”

“Double counselor coverage,” Jeno reminds him, serious, and he’s right. For protection, no counselor is ever supposed to be completely alone with a camper. 

“I —” Jaemin, caught off guard, trails off. “Okay.”

“Okay.” Jeno’s voice is familiar and calming in the midst of all of this chaos, and Jaemin feels his anxiety ebb just a little bit at the sound. “I’ll see you soon Jaemin, I’m on my way right now.”

Jaemin switches the radio back to eighteen. He feels a little calmer than he did before and takes a deep breath, eyes closed, before he opens them again and heads over to Alex, who is coloring quietly with soft music playing from Jaehyun’s phone. 

He sits beside Alex quietly, letting him draw. Before he knows it he hears the golf cart approaching, the sound of the wheels running over the bumpy terrain deafening in the otherwise quiet night. Jeno comes into view, parking the cart at the top of the hill. He gets out, his hair ruffled by sleep, pajamas on. He can see Jeno’s sleeping bag and pillow in the cart, and his heart swells with relief at the confirmation that he won’t be alone.

Jeno approaches, eye smile at the ready. Alex looks up from his drawing with curious eyes. “Hey Alex, I’m Jungle Jeno,” Jeno says. “We’re gonna go on an adventure and try sleeping somewhere else, okay?”

“Jungle Jeno’s gonna take us down the hill in the golf cart,” Jaemin supplies when Alex turns to him, eyes wide and nervous. “He’s my friend, and he’s a super good driver. It’ll be the most fun _ever!_ Usually we don’t get to ride the golf cart.”

Alex relaxes a little bit at Jaemin’s reassurance and pulls his blanket around his shoulders. “Really?”

“Really,” Jeno says. “I don’t let just _anyone_ ride in my golf cart you know.”

Alex looks between them and grabs Buddy off the table. He starts to put his pencils away and right before Jeno scrambles to go help him he mutters to Jaemin, “I guess that’s a yes.”

Jaemin turns off the music and plugs Jaehyun’s phone in inside the Jungle Hut before fetching Alex’s sleeping bag and pillow from the yurt as quietly as he can manage. When he returns, Jeno is helping Alex into the backseat of the golf cart, eye smile never wavering, soft words of encouragement flowing from his lips like water. 

Jaemin hurries over and puts Alex’s stuff beside Jeno’s in the very back before walking around to slide into the backseat beside Alex. Jeno smiles reassuringly at the two of them and steps back into the front and begins to drive them down the hill.

It’s a bit of a bumpy ride, and Alex clings to Jaemin’s arm the whole way down, even after they hit Nazarian and the dusty, downhill road gives way to smooth asphalt. As they drive past the Big Green Field, past Vernon, past the playground and the Boxcar, Alex’s eyelids begin to droop. By the time they reach the Redwood Center, the Craft Shack down a little ways to the right, Alex is asleep, his head against Jaemin’s arm and his soft breaths warm against Jaemin’s skin. 

The golf cart glides to a stop and Jeno gets out, his eyebrows raising at Jaemin’s situation.

“I’ll get the stuff, you just focus on carrying him inside.” His whisper is loud in the silence, the peaceful kind of silence that only comes when you’re up in the mountains miles from any freeway or city, where you can see all the stars in the sky. Jeno carefully scoops up his bedding along with Alex’s, stopping to pick up Buddy, who has slipped from Alex’s sleeping grasp to the floor of the golf cart, before making his way up the Redwood Center stairs.

Ever so carefully, Jaemin shifts to face Alex and gathers him in his arms. Alex sniffles, and Jaemin freezes, terrified of waking him up. But Alex settles down a moment later and he pulls him up, leaning Alex against his chest so his face is over Jaemin’s shoulder, letting him support Alex’s weight with his arms. 

He slides carefully out of the golf cart and follows Jeno up the stairs. Sicheng is waiting for them, the lights on. Jaemin stays out on the porch rocking Alex gently in his arms as Sicheng and Jeno make up the beds. Their murmured conversation and the golden light spilling from the window ground Jaemin as he looks out and up towards the sky full of stars. 

Sicheng and Jeno come out onto the porch. Sicheng waves a silent goodbye, returning to the night nurse room, mouthing _good luck._ Jeno waves for both of them before he turns and offers his arms to Jaemin, who gratefully hands Alex over. Jeno adjusts Alex on his hip, and tilts his head, beckoning for Jaemin to follow him inside.

There’s a bed already made up for him right beside the one for Alex, with Jeno on Alex’s other side. Jaemin feels his heart swell in appreciation. Even though the echoes of Alex’s screaming haunt him, with Jeno’s thoughtfulness and his kindness to stay, Jaemin may yet get some sleep tonight. 

As Jaemin slides into the sleeping bag, Jeno lowers Alex onto the neighboring bed and goes to turn out the light. The room is plunged into darkness and out of the silence, a quiet voice says,

“Goodnight, Jaemin.”

And then, in response, barely more than a whisper, Jaemin says in a breath, “Goodnight, Jeno.”

»»——⍟——««

The next morning Jaemin feels a little bit like death warmed over. Sure enough, Alex had awoken once again somewhere around three in the morning, screaming, and it had taken both himself and Jeno comforting him for him to finally drift off into sleep. Jaemin had been at his wit’s end before Alex, barely clinging to consciousness, said in the smallest voice imaginable, 

“I love you.” 

Somehow, it had made it all worth it. 

But cute admission aside, Jaemin feels like death, and there’s no denying that Jeno does too. Jaemin’s eating with resource again, officially on morning break so that he can catch some sleep before the afternoon, and Jeno brings him warm coffee. 

Hyuck, who’s also on morning break, scoffs at them. “Why the hell are you drinking coffee when you could be drinking Yerba?” A can of the stuff is clutched in his hands. “We all know it has four times the caffeine.” 

“Yeah,” Jeno says, looking mildly sick. “Which means it’s too early in the summer to justify it.” Hyuck snorts and takes another sip of _Enlightenmint_. 

“Damn elitists.”

“Oh?” Jaemin smiles and pulls his own can of _Bluephoria_ out of his backpack. “Watch this.” He cracks it open and pours it into his coffee. Donghyuck looks mildly impressed, raising an eyebrow in respect. Jeno only sighs, rubbing a hand across his forehead. 

“Trust you to come up with the most cursed caffeinated beverage on Planet Earth. Is your Starbucks order still an americano with five shots of espresso?”

“No,” Jaemin pouts. “It worried my parents, so I cut it down to three shots of espresso.” Jeno sighs again, lowering his head to the table. Donghyuck bursts into laughter. Doyoung passes by, and he locks eyes with Jaemin. 

“Don’t think I didn’t see that while I was coming out of Vernon, young man.” Jaemin swallows, a little scared for his life. Doyoung’s intimidating, and everyone knows he’s practically the caffeine police. “I’d better see you drinking eight cups of water before this meal is over.”

Jaemin nods. “Yes, sir. I’ll start now.” He hastily pours a glass of water and downs it in one large gulp. Doyoung nods approvingly before turning to Jeno and saying, “You too.”

“I didn’t even drink any coffee!” Jeno complains, exasperated. Doyoung only frowns and balances his plate of food on one hand so he can pinch Jeno’s cheek. 

“Staying hydrated is always a good idea, even if you weren’t doing anything to actively dehydrate yourself. Besides, you didn’t sleep much last night, we don’t want you fainting from dehydration and exhaustion.” 

“Jesus, okay _mom_ ,” Jeno says. Doyoung just rolls his eyes and moves on to sit at the next table beside Jaehyun and Johnny, waving goodbye.

“He really cares about you, you know?” Hyuck says. “Wonder why. Doyoung hates the rest of us.” Jeno rolls his eyes at Hyuck, unimpressed. He takes a bite of eggs. 

“He doesn’t hate you guys, don’t be dramatic,” Jeno says, and takes a sip of water, eyes fixed on the back of Doyoung’s head as though he’ll sense Jeno is obeying. “He just likes being listened to. It started when we counseled Sherwood as Bridgers. He’s loved me ever since because neither of _you_ listened to him during the Sherwood faire, so I looked extra good.”

“So you’re telling me you got a lifetime of love for listening to him one time like, three years ago?” Hyuck says, in disbelief. “The injustice. Jaemin and I should sue.” 

Jeno scoffs and takes another bite of eggs, unbothered by Hyuck's outrage. “Or you could just listen to him? You still counsel Sherwood.”

“The _fuck?_ No.” Donghyuck looks personally offended at the very idea of it. “Doyoung’s way too fun to tease. He always gives me threes on my evals, I don’t want to break my streak.” Jaemin stifles a laugh in his coffee and Hyuck turns to him, curiosity blooming in his irises as he studies the mug. “Does that actually taste okay?”

Jaemin shrugs. “No, it’s really gross, actually. But I’m about to go take a nap anyway before all that caffeine hits the bloodstream, so I should wake up super energized.”

Jeno looks up from his eggs, alarmed, and even Hyuck looks a little bit put off. “Jaemin, I really don’t think that's how it works.” Jaemin just waves their concern away with a smile, already taking another sip. 

“Trust me, it is. I’m practically a caffeine expert after last year.”

“Jesus, what happened last year that you needed _this_ much caffeine?” Hyuck looks on in a combination of horror and awe as Jaemin pours more Yerba Mate into his mug. He freezes at Donghyuck’s question and takes another hasty sip, hands shifting on the mug’s handle. He looks down into the coffee, tilting the mug so he can see the reflection of the sky. 

He bites his lip and looks back up at Jeno and Hyuck, smile fixed firmly in place. “Oh, just school.”

Donghyuck frowns. “Man, I get what Yangyang meant,” he mutters to himself, downing his own Yerba. Jaemin barely has time to process whatever the hell that means when Donghyuck is getting up and taking his plate with him. “Anyway, my break ends in a few minutes so I’m gonna head back to sit with my campers. I’ll see you two around.”

He and Jeno wave goodbye, and before long Jaemin follows Hyuck, returning his plate to Vernon before heading to his staff cabin for a long nap, promising Jeno to hang out as soon as their breaks match up. His head hits the pillow and he’s out like a light, all thoughts of Alex and Jeno vanishing from his mind, letting him sink into restful darkness. 

»»——⍟——««

At free time the next day, Jaehyun explains the different options that the kids have and the counselors all split up to make lines for each activity, the kids rushing around and picking a counselor to go with. Jaemin’s own campers rush after Sana, who is the counselor on playground duty, and Yuta, who’s going to the pool. 

That leaves Jaemin, who requested to go the craft shack in order to fulfill his promise to Alex, with a few of the shyer campers. Alex stands off to the side with Buddy clutched in one hand and his art case in another, unwilling to get in line with the other kids. After Alex’s midnight screaming and his unwillingness to eat any of the camp food that the other kids loved, most of the kids in Jaemin’s cabin weren’t interested in being his friend. Jaemin hoped that he might find something in common with these other art kids, but Alex stayed as far away as possible, eyeing them distrustfully.

“Hey, Alex!” Jaemin waves at him, but Alex doesn’t move, instead just blinking at Jaemin. “Hey, bud, I need you to come on up here by me, okay?” The other kids, all in a line by Jaemin, start to look more and more annoyed. 

“Yeah, Alex, come on,” says Monarch Mina, rolling her eyes and crossing her tiny arms in frustration. “All the other groups have left.” 

Alex doesn’t move for a moment, and then he turns away, sitting with his back to them in defiance. Jaemin tries not to sigh, but he lets his disappointment show on his face when he walks over and turns to face Alex head-on. He kneels down, but Alex shuffles a little to the right, averting his eyes. Jaemin sighs for real this time. 

“Hey, Alex. I just want everyone to have a fun time at camp, okay? For that to happen, you need to listen to me. Can you do that?”

Alex is silent, small finger scratching at the dirt, eyes turned away from Jaemin. Jaemin gives him a moment to respond and when he doesn’t, he stands up, brushing off his knees. 

“That’s too bad, Alex. I guess you’ll have to spend free time with Jaguar Jaehyun and not go to the craft shack like you wanted, then.”

Alex’s eyes widen and fill with tears. He scrambles to his feet and rushes after Jaemin, grabbing the hem of Jaemin’s vest and tugging hard. “Wait!”

Jaemin turns around and kneels down again, smiling kindly. “Are you ready to get in line with everyone so we can go to the craft shack?” Alex nods tearfully, and it tugs on Jaemin’s heart, but he knows he has to stay strong.

“Okay, Alex. It’s okay, you don’t have to cry. As long as you promise to listen, we can still go to the craft shack together. You promise to listen?”

Alex nods and wipes away a tear. “Promise.” He sticks out a pinky, and Jaemin’s heart melts. He completes the pinky promise and straightens back up. 

“Okay, then let’s head to the craft shack, everybody!” The kids cheer and Jaemin leads them across the Big Green Field from where they had announcements, past the playground and volleyball court, and around the Wood’s Inn until the grass fades into hard dirt and the craft shack comes into view.

As they approach, Renjun stumbles out of the Craft Shack, face hidden behind the boxes and boxes of craft supplies piled high in his arms. Jaemin snickers to himself as Renjun trips and nearly drops a container full of loose beads on his way over to the picnic benches. 

Still, Renjun makes it to the picnic benches safely and drops the supplies onto the table with a loud thump. There’s a million-watt smile on his face as he greets the kids. 

“Hi, Adventure camp! I’m Rabbit Renjun!”

“Hi, Rabbit Renjun,” They chorus back, Jaemin leading them. 

“Welcome to the Craft Shack! I’m the crafty buddy, and I live in that little building over there, also known as the Craft Shack!” Renjun points behind him, where just a small ways away there stands a wooden shack with six sides. Even from here, it’s obvious that it’s covered in drawings and various kinds of paint, and Jaemin’s been inside of it enough times to know that it’s absolute chaos in there. Cans of paint and stacks of paper fill the shelves that line the walls, with beads and lanyard string protruding from every box and jar. There are scissors everywhere, pens and pencils lying on every available surface, and more spools of yarn than you could ever count. 

“You _live_ in there?” Seahorse Seonghwa stares at the Craft Shack with no small amount of skepticism. 

“I do,” says Renjun, grinning. Jaemin fights the urge to laugh.

“But it’s so small! How do you fit?” Seonghwa’s eyes are alight with curiosity as he studies it.

“I sleep in the roof,” Renjun says, without skipping a beat. Seonghwa’s eyes widen like he’d never considered such a thing, and the kids break out into excited chatter. Renjun speaks again loudly to recapture their attention. “Plus, the Craft Shack is the world’s only six-sided octagon! It matches with the GaGa Ball pit, which, as Jaguar Jaehyun might have told you, is the world’s only eight-sided hexagon.” The kids ooh and aah as if they know what an octagon or a hexagon is, and Renjun just keeps smiling, clearly way out of his depth. Jaemin almost feels bad, but it’s seriously funny to watch Renjun try to interact with Adventure campers.

_“They’re literally just cats, Jaemin,”_ Renjun had complained at dinner once during 0 Week, while Jaemin lost his mind laughing. Donghyuck, Yangyang, and Jeno looked on in mild amusement. _“Less predictable cats.”_

_“Oh my god, they are not,”_ Jaemin had choked out, and Donghyuck had needed to hit him hard on the back until he could breathe again. 

“The craft we’ll be doing today is making rock pets!” Renjun says now, gesturing to the paints that he’s laid out on one of the tables already. “The first step is finding a rock, so I’ll let Jellyfish Jaemin take you guys down into the creek bed to find some awesome rocks to work with.” The kids already look beyond excited, and Jaemin sees Mina tug on Seonghwa’s hand in excitement, the pair sharing a grin, making Jaemin’s heart burst with happiness at their friendship. 

“After you guys get back, the paints will be all ready, and you’ll get to paint your rock friend however you’d like! Then we’ll leave them out on the Craft Shack deck to dry and Jellyfish Jaemin will collect them and give them to you later. Everyone understand?” 

The kids cheer and Renjun laughs, genuine this time. “I’ll take that as a yes!”

“All right everyone, come gather around me now, and I’ll take you down to the creek, okay?” Jaemin calls out, and in moments, most of the kids are gathered around his legs, eager to go into the creek, which is usually off-limits. All the kids but one. 

Alex still stands off to the side, warily eyeing Jaemin’s group, his eyes darting toward Renjun. Jaemin smiles and points Alex out to Renjun. Renjun’s eyes dart between Jaemin and Alex. 

_This is the kid?_ Renjun mouths. Jaemin nods and understanding floods Renjun’s irises. He gives Jaemin a look, saying _I’ve got this._

Renjun heads over to Alex, kneeling down to ask him something. Alex brightens up and answers, and he goes with Renjun to one of the picnic tables. Jaemin grins. He had a feeling Alex would like Renjun, who was always kind and steady and liked art like he did, when he felt so insecure and afraid in such a new environment.

He takes the kids down into the creek and lets them run wild, making sure they don’t try to go in the water or disturb any of the wildlife. Before long they have all returned with rocks of varying shapes and sizes, and Jaemin leads them up out of the creek back to the picnic tables, where Alex is sitting beside Renjun. 

Jaemin looks around at the picnic table, piled high with loose stacks of paper, miscellaneous bottles of paint, jars of beads and containers of glitter and plastic tubs filled with paintbrushes. “Got any fabric markers so Turtle Alex can get started?” Jaemin asks as the kids all scatter to sit at different tables and start breaking into the paint. 

Renjun rolls his eyes. “I have no idea where they are, Jellyfish Jaemin, can’t you see this mess?”

“Don’t even pretend like you don’t know where every single crafting item in your arsenal is, Rabbit Renjun. We all know that that’s your mysterious superpower.” Alex giggles and Renjun sighs, long suffering, and reaches around Jaemin. He lifts one plastic box off another and sure enough, there are the pens. 

“Rabbit Renjun, you are so incredibly powerful,” Jaemin says seriously, and he snatches the pens from the box, handing them over to Alex. “There we go, buddy! Rabbit Renjun will help you get started in your vest while I check on everyone else, okay?”

Alex nods shyly, already pulling his blank vest off. Jaemin grins and heads over to the other picnic bench to sit down. 

“Jellyfish Jaemin, Jellyfish Jaemin, look!” Mina points ecstatically at her rock, painted a bright orange, the paint all over her own fingers as well. “It’s a pumpkin rock.”

“Ooh, very cool,” Jaemin says enthusiastically. He turns to Seonghwa. “What about your rock, Seahorse Seonghwa?”

Seonghwa grins. “I painted him blue and purple and I’m gonna add some black and white too because he’s a _space_ rock,” he says proudly. “My mom told me that the people who went on the moon brought back rocks, and my rock is one of them.” 

“Wow!” Jaemin says. “That’s super awesome.” He turns to the last girl at the table, but is surprised to see her looking down at her rock, not even bothering to reach for any paint. 

“Moonlight Miyoung, do you need any paint?” She shakes her head frantically.

“Oh, no,” she says, voice high and soft. “My rock is just a rock. I love him the way he is, so I don’t want to paint him.” She pats the rock, a small smile on her face, and Jaemin’s heart melts. 

“That’s lovely, Miyoung,” He says. “You don’t have to paint him if you don’t want to. If you want, maybe you can ask Rabbit Renjun for some paper, so you can paint a picture instead.” She nods, excited. He smiles at her. “I’ll go get some paper for you. I’ll be right back!” 

He stands up and heads back over to Alex and Renjun’s picnic table and snatches some paper from one of the stacks of craft supplies. He sneaks a glance at Alex’s vest and is pleased to see _Turtle Alex_ written there in childish handwriting, and shaky outlines of turtles already covering the back as Alex traces another with Renjun’s help. 

By the time free time is over, Alex walks to dinner by Jaemin’s side willingly, a smile across his face and wearing his newly decorated adventure vest. The smile only grows when Jungwoo smiles gently and compliments the vest, saying “Wow, Alex, did you draw that yourself? It looks very nice.”

“I did,” Alex says shyly. “Rabbit Renjun and Jellyfish Jaemin helped me.” He looks up at Jaemin and smiles, bouncing ever so slightly on the balls of his feet, and Jaemin grins back, melting completely. 

»»——⍟——««

Later that night after campfire, any goodwill Alex may have garnered has dissipated, and Jaemin is bordering on angry. It’s quite unlike him, and he tries his best to shove down the feelings of sheer annoyance that are rising in him like a fire. But no matter how hard he tries, he’s stuck with his feelings of ill will towards Alex for the moment, because if it wasn’t for him, Jaemin wouldn’t be in the Redwood Center right now.

Things had been going so well after free time; Alex was so happy with his new adventure vest that he actually tried to eat some of the camp food at dinner. He’d sat at the table beside Jaemin instead of trying to sit alone, and maybe he didn’t talk to the other kids, but he’d been there with them, and that was a big step forward.

Jaemin should have known then that it was only the calm before the storm.

They had all walked up the hill together, Jaemin and Hyorin leading the campers in a rousing chorus of _The Ants Go Marching,_ and then per Jaehyun’s instructions, gone to get ready for campfire. Jaemin was helping kids put on bug spray and sending them out to sit on the benches by the campfire when he took a quick headcount and realized that Alex was missing.

Yuta, ever a blessing, offered to bounce between their two yurts while Jaemin went to look for Alex. He let Jungwoo know and the two of them soon found Alex crouched behind the stack of firewood, scratching at the dirt with his hand.

“Hey, Turtle Alex, it’s time for campfire,” Jungwoo had said gently, approaching Alex and kneeling down, Jaemin standing right beside him. “Why don’t you go with Jellyfish Jaemin and get on a coat and some bug spray?”

Alex looked up, and Jaemin was shocked to see angry tears running down his face. Before he even had the chance to process _that_ , Alex picked up a log, and threw it at Jaemin’s legs, yelling, “I don’t _wanna!”_

The log hit Jaemin’s shins with a surprising amount of force and he huffed out a painful breath, staggering backwards. Jungwoo scrambled to his feet, alarmed, and caught Jaemin before he could fall over, but anger was already beginning to rise in Jaemin’s chest, nearly ready to boil over. Jaemin winced and tried to focus on lowering himself to the ground with Jungwoo’s help instead, but the anger remained, simmering slowly throughout his whole body.

“Alex.” Jungwoo’s voice was serious, almost scary, and Alex shrunk back, alarmed but clearly taking them more seriously. “We do _not_ throw things. Jellyfish Jaemin got hurt because of what you did.”

Alex’s tears only increased, but he wasn’t being difficult anymore. He stood up, serious regret clear on his face, but Jaemin had an awfully hard time forgiving him at that moment, when there was already blood beginning to stain his pants and a growing ache in his shin. 

“Jellyfish Jaemin, I-I’m sorry,” Alex wailed from behind the two of them. “I-It’s all my fault, what if you get sick and die? I promise I’ll n-never throw things e-ever again!” Fat tears roll down his cheeks and he began to heave wetly, taking shuddering breaths. Jungwoo turned from Jaemin and did his best to comfort Alex.

“Hey, Alex, what you did wasn’t okay, but Jellyfish Jaemin is going to be fine. It’s good that you realized that you were wrong and apologized. Nobody is super mad at you, okay? We were just scared of someone getting seriously hurt.” 

Alex nodded shakily, wiping his tears roughly with one hand, snot dripping from his nose. Jungwoo sighed. “Alex, we’ll talk more about this later, but right now we have campfire, okay? So go and get your coat from your yurt and meet me back here.” Alex nodded and rushed off immediately to comply with Jungwoo’s instructions.

Jungwoo turned to Jaemin, eyes full of concern. “You okay?” When Jaemin nodded roughly, he pulled out his radio. “B&G, do you copy? I repeat, B&G, do you copy?”

The radio crackled. “I copy.” It was Yangyang, and Jaemin felt raw relief flow through him at the sound of his friend’s voice. Thank god both Jeno and Yangyang were Buildings and Grounds this week — Jaemin couldn’t think of two people he’d rather have on-call when he was having to deal with a camper like Alex.

“Seventeen.” Jungwoo switched the channel, and Yangyang’s voice came through.

“I’m here.” 

“Hey Yang. We’ve got a situation up on Adventure Hill, Jaemin’s injured,” Yangyang makes a choked noise on the other side of the line, but before he can elaborate, Jungwoo plows on. “We’re gonna need a golf cart to get him down to the Redwood Center while the rest of Adventure has campfire. Might also need someone to come in and cover the cabin for the night while he recovers, but I’ll radio Taeyong about that one.”

“Jeez, okay. I’ll come up with the golf cart asap. Tell Jaemin to hang in there. Back to eighteen.”

Jungwoo switched the channel back and looked down at Jaemin seriously. “Don’t stress. Lucas or I will take your campers for campfire, and I’ll radio Taeyong about potentially someone replacing you in the cabin tonight, depending on what Sicheng and the nurses say.”

Jaemin had sighed, frustrated and still fairly angry. “Yeah. Yeah, okay.”

Jungwoo sighed, sharing his frustration. “It’s okay to be upset, but try not to take it out on Alex too much. The kid’s just terrified.”

“Yeah, I know,” Jaemin says lowly, frowning. He tried to move his leg, but the cut screamed in protest and he gave up. “I’ll get over it, I just need a minute.” Jungwoo nodded understandingly.

“You’ll have all the time you need. Alex is a difficult camper, to say the least, and you’ve been doing really amazing with him. We all have a breaking point, it’s not something to be ashamed of. That’s why Lucas and I are here to support you, and then Jaehyun. Even Taeyong, if you feel like you need the nicest person on Earth.”

Jaemin chuckled wetly, some of the pain starting to set in now that the adrenaline was starting to wear off. “Thanks, Jungwoo.” He studied his leg and rolled up his pants to see a deep cut across his shins, blood already starting to dry. 

“Damn,” Jaemin said under his breath. “This is going to be one hell of an incident report.” Jungwoo snickered, and suddenly Yangyang crested the hill in the golf cart, barely contained panic on his face. He pulled up right beside them and jumped out, rushing to Jaemin’s side.

“Oh my god, Jaemin, what the heck? What _happened?”_

“Long story,” Jaemin said. “I’ll tell you all about it on the way down.” Yangyang stared at him in disbelief. 

“Darn right you will. Why do all the craziest things happen to you?”

One golf cart ride later, Jaemin is sitting on an examination table being examined by two nurses and a horrified Sicheng, eyes raking up and down the two cuts. The blood is beginning to congeal and turn brown, the surrounding skin turning a harsh and ugly pink. Yangyang sits beside him, trying his best to make conversation and distract Jaemin from the nurses, who are already readying the hydrogen peroxide to clean the wound. 

“This is going to sting,” One of them says, deadpan, covering the mouth of the hydrogen peroxide bottle with a piece of gauze and titling it upside down. Jaemin swallows and tries to focus on what Yangyang’s saying, but when she brings it to the wound, the other nurse tending to the other cut, she’s right.A burst of pain shoots up Jaemin’s legs and he squirms in discomfort, everything else forgotten. He feels Yangyang’s hand in his, and squeezes, desperate for comfort. He must be cutting off the circulation to poor Yangyang’s fingers, but he never complains, just squeezing back and helping to steady him. 

Jaemin takes in a shuddering breath and before he knows it, they’re all done, withdrawing one after the other. Jaemin loosens his grip on Yangyang, but their fingers stay loosely intertwined, Jaemin finding relief through the points of contact with one of his best friends in the entire world. Yangyang has always been reliable despite his crazy fun personality, and Jaemin has never felt more grateful for that reliability than now. 

After what feels like forever, the nurses are done with him and Sicheng releases them back to their shared staff cabin .

“You need to get a good night’s sleep,” Sicheng says, standing in the doorway of the Redwood Center to see them off. “With that Alex kid waking up at two in the morning to scream like a banshee the last two nights, lord knows you need it, injured or not. Knowing you, you’ll try to get back up there to hang out with the kids.” Sicheng narrows his eyes and says threateningly, “Don’t even think about it, Jaemin. I’ll _know.”_

Jaemin shudders. “Sicheng, you’re scary. I promise I’ll sleep in my staff cabin.”

Sicheng stares at him, narrowing his eyes further. 

Jaemin sighs. “Scout’s honor. I swear on my mother. Pinky promise.” 

Sicheng’s eyes are barely more than slits, and Jaemin hears Yangyang stifle a laugh beside him. Sicheng hums. “You pass for now. You had better hope you’re telling the truth or I’ll find you tomorrow morning and finish you off myself.”

“Okay, goodnight now, Sicheng!” Yangyang says cheerfully, putting his arm around Jaemin’s shoulders and ushering him away. “We’re going to go get a really amazing night’s sleep now, see you around!”

They retreat down the Redwood Center steps, going slowly for Jaemin’s cuts. Sicheng watches them until they safely reach the bottom and he closes the door, leaving them to get back on the golf cart and head back to Staff Area.

It’s relatively early still, the sky fading from blue to gray as the sun sinks below the horizon. As they pass by Vernon, Jaemin can hear the sounds of Elevation campfire, just beginning up in Challenge Course Canyon. The Adventure campers are probably already getting ready for bed, brushing their teeth, changing into their matching pajama sets, and snuggling into their sleeping bags with their stuffed animals to listen to their bedtime story. 

As darkness begins to slowly creep over the treetops, they arrive back at Staff Area, Yangyang helping Jaemin inside to lie on his bunk. Outside the window, the darkness settles over camp like an old friend, shadows falling through the window to cover Jaemin’s eyes. Before he knows it, he’s sinking into the darkness and wrapping the shadows around him like a blanket, the tiredness weighing his bones down like lead, dragging him into unconsciousness. 

»»——⍟——««

The next morning, Jaemin’s skin has mostly stitched itself back together, though the new skin is still angry and pink, and the surrounding skin still bruised. Yangyang drives him up the hill for the counselor’s meeting, and when Jaemin wakes his cabin up they all cheer, thrilled at Jaemin’s return. Joshua launches himself at Jaemin’s legs and the other kids follow suit, hugging him around his midsection. 

Jaemin laughs and tells them to get ready, eyes fixed on Alex, who stands to the side by himself, eyes downturned. Jaemin heads over to him and sits beside him. “Hey Turtle Alex. Aren’t you going to get ready for your last day of camp?” Alex shakes his head, still not meeting Jaemin’s eyes. “Well, why not? Do you have something you want to tell me?"

Alex mumbles something, so quiet that Jaemin can’t make it out. He smiles encouragingly. “I’m sorry, buddy, but I couldn’t quite hear that.”

“I’m sorry,” Alex says softly, but clear enough for Jaemin to hear. “I threw something that I shouldn’t have, and you got hurt. I promise I didn’t mean to, Jellyfish Jaemin, you have to believe me.” Alex’s eyes turn and fix themselves on Jaemin’s, and he’s surprised at the desperation there, the genuine desire for Jaemin to know he’d never wanted for him to get hurt.

If there was any residual frustration that Jaemin may have harbored for Alex, it dissipates on the spot. He smiles softly and looks into Alex’s eyes as he says, “Alex. I know it was a mistake. I’m very glad you apologized. I forgive you, okay?” Jaemin straightens. “Now let’s get ready for camp, yeah?”

Alex nods and smiles, and Jaemin notices proudly that he’s not clinging to either a stuffed animal or his art kit. “Okay.”

»»——⍟——««

After lunch on Wednesday, it’s time to say goodbye to some of the campers. A lot of the younger Adventure campers only stay for half the week, the long days just too tiring for them to stay a whole week. The older ones usually stay on, but it’s always with a heavy heart that Jaemin says goodbye to the young ones. 

He gets hugs from Miyoung and Mina, both of them heading home. Miyoung shows him her unpainted rock pet again and tells him that she’s naming him _Jaerin_ , a combination of his own name and her counselor’s, Hyorin. Jaemin nearly cries on the spot.

Most of his own campers are leaving too, Seonghwa being one of them, Joshua being another. They hug him goodbye and tell him they’re going to miss him a lot. Jaemin hugs them back and says he’ll miss them more, doing his best to hold back tears. They run into their parent’s arms and Jaemin returns their enthusiastic waving as they walk away down Nazarian, hand in hand with their parents. 

When the time comes for Alex to say goodbye, Jaemin is hit with a rush of emotions that he has no clue how to deal with. Part of him has never been so glad to see a camper go, but another part of him remembers Alex’s small smiles and quiet, midnight “I love you”s and the incredible growth he’d had in just a few days and swells with pride and affection. 

Alex hugs him tight before leaving with his mom, and Jaemin hugs back, feelings running rampant in his chest. “I’ll see you next year,” Alex promises quietly. “Thank you.”

Jaemin’s heart jumps to his throat and his eyes water. He shuts them delicately as possible and forces the tears back, pushing a smile onto his face as he waves goodbye to Alex as he leaves with his mother. 

When all the kids are gone, Jaemin breathes a sigh of relief and checks his watch. Time for his break. He waves to Lucas, who gives him the thumbs up, and Jaemin tells his remaining campers that he has an important meeting with Taeyong, so they get to hang out with Liger Lucas for the time being.

As he walks down Nazarian towards the office and Staff Area, he feels the conflict tear through his chest, the feelings nearly overpowering. Alex’s last words were like a punch in the gut, and Jaemin needs some kind of break. 

Staff Area is deserted, the open-air common space that is always so lively during 0 week is empty, everyone out doing their jobs or doing things for themselves on their break. The fairy lights strung between the buildings are off, and the old mismatched couches look lonely with nobody occupying them. Jaemin falls back against one of the couches and begins playing with his friendship bracelets, nothing better to do, as he thinks about Alex.

The emotions bubble up inside him, and Jaemin doesn’t think he’s felt this confused in a long while. Slowly, one by one, tears slip out of his eyes and down his cheeks, burning hot against his skin as he thinks of Alex, so difficult to deal with but deep down, so kind and sweet, his problems stemming from the way his parents seem to shelter him. 

He thinks of Alex’s words, so small and yet so hopeful, _I’ll see you next year,_ and the tears gather in his eyes and start to fall faster and thicker.

He hears a door opening, and he frantically wipes his eyes, trying his best to hide the evidence of his breakdown. He sits upright and when he turns to see who it is, he comes face to face with Jeno, who blinks with surprise.

“Jaemin? Oh my god, what’s wrong?”

Jaemin inwardly curses Jeno. How dare he be the one to witness Jaemin’s meltdown? There were only four other people on staff besides himself who would have caught on to the fact that Jaemin had been crying, and he’s just unlucky enough to run into one of them. 

Jaemin sighs and stands, accepting he’s not going to get out of this one. “You got time?”

“Yeah, I’m on break,” Jeno says, obviously bewildered. 

“Cool. Creek?”

Jeno smiles, eyes folding into crescents. “Sure. Creek.”

The creek is their thing, a Jeno-and-Jaemin thing. Their very first summer in Bridge together, they’d both ended up counseling the same camp and had ended up having the same break together every single day. Since they’d been Bridgers, they weren’t allowed in Staff Area or anywhere where they might disrupt other camps, so they’d snuck down into the creek and had long talks that lasted the whole two hours. Jaemin could honestly say that Jeno became the person that he could be most honest with that week, swapping life stories while perched on river rocks and dipping their toes in the cold rushing water until there was no way not to trust one another with everything.

Or, well, _almost_ everything, at least.

They still have creek talks. It’s still a Jeno-and-Jaemin thing. It’s just this time they can’t jump across the water to their normal sitting rocks, Jaemin’s shins still a little bit too sensitive for anything like that, so they settle by the normal creekside. 

Jeno looks over to him as Jaemin pulls off his socks and dips his feet in the water. He folds his arms over his knees and lays his head on them, turned to face Jaemin.

“Jaem, what’s going on?”

Jaemin sighs, because what can he say?

He settles for just simply, “Alex.” Another tear drips from his eyes at the word, and Jeno seems to contemplate it for a moment before he stretches out, pulling his own socks off, and lets his feet join Jaemin’s in the water. 

“Ah, the monster camper?”

“Yeah. Or, well, no. I don’t know,” Jaemin says helplessly, letting his hands fall loosely to his sides. “I’m torn about it, and I don’t know why? Like, the kid threw a log at my shins, I probably shouldn’t be harboring as many positive feelings for him as I am.”

Jeno snorts. “Hyuck’s done way worse to you, and you still love him. I don’t think it’s that weird.”

Jaemin rolls his eyes and shoves Jeno playfully. “Hyuck nearly breaking my leg playing soccer is _different_. That was reciprocal, I almost broke his arm back.”

“You sound awfully proud of that,” Jeno says, barely holding back a laugh. Jaemin shoots him a look, and he gets a glimpse of Jeno full-on, the afternoon sunlight dappled on the leaves and glowing on his skin, turning his eyes a softer brown than normal. It knocks the breath from his lungs.

Jaemin turns away and silence falls between them as he watches the creek rush past, water striders darting along and away from them as he kicks his feet, rippling the surface. He thinks he sees a tiny fish dart by, and he sighs. 

“I don’t know. He was literally the worst camper I’ve ever had to deal with, but I was still way more sad to see him go than some of my other campers. I must be some kind of masochist.” Jaemin laughs, but it’s hollow, a smile painted on his face. In his peripheral vision, he sees Jeno tilt his head up to the treetops, thinking.

“Hm, I don’t think so,” Jeno says slowly, turning to look at Jaemin. “You spent the most time with Alex, did your very best to make camp fun for him, to try and make sure he wasn’t afraid. It makes sense that you got attached, you care about his story. You know his parents aren’t doing a great job preparing him for life in the real world. Why would you need to worry about the campers that were already doing fine?”

Jaemin sucks in a breath. “What, so I got invested?”

Jeno smiles, gentle and genuine, lighting up his whole face. He twists to face Jaemin and reaches out to put a hand on Jaemin’s arm, drawing him into a hug. Jaemin’s arms wrap around Jeno’s waist on instinct, putting his chin over Jeno’s shoulder. It’s warm, and Jaemin already feels his emotional turmoil subsiding, his thoughts giving way to _Jeno._

“Jaemin, you have too much love to give. That’s really the only problem here, and what a wonderful problem to have,” Jeno says, voice soft. “You love the easiest out of all of us, we all know it. Alex was just one of many victims.” 

Jaemin laughs, soft but genuine, and let the tears stream down his face, now cathartic rather than burning. He squeezes Jeno just a little tighter before letting go and leaning his head on Jeno’s shoulder instead, turning them both back towards the creek. 

“Thanks, Jeno,” he says, voice so soft that it’s barely there. “You always get it.” 

The rest of Jaemin’s break is spent by Jeno’s side in the creek, soft voices mingling as they tell each other about their last school year, and when he emerges from the creek bed and runs into Hyuck on his way back to Adventure Camp, who are playing games on the Big Green field, Hyuck just raises an eyebrow. 

“Break with Jeno?” he asks.

“Yeah,” Jaemin says, grinning. “How’d you know?”

Hyuck rolls his eyes. “A hunch.”

»»——⍟——««

The week ends uneventfully after Alex’s mid-week departure. To celebrate a successful first week at camp, Jaemin finds himself invited out to dinner on Saturday night with the Adventure Camp staffers, plus Jeno, Doyoung, Mark, and Donghyuck, who all tagged along.

Jaemin is reluctantly shoved into the booth after Jeno by Hyuck, and when Jaemin stares him down he only wiggles his eyebrows in challenge, just _daring_ Jaemin to say something about it. Jaemin seethes silently, but he can’t say a damn thing. After all, he and Jeno are close friends, despite whatever else Donghyuck is trying to imply. 

It’s a good break, the restaurant crowded, mindless chatter and warm smiles shared across the table. Having to fit so many people in one large booth means that Jeno’s pressed up against Jaemin’s side, thighs pressed close as they all swap stories from the week.

“So, what’s everyone been up to this past year?” Doyoung says, reaching forward to take a few fries from the basket in the middle of the table. “I know we got into it a bit at 0 week but I haven’t heard about everyone yet.” He takes some more fries and smiles around at them. 

Jaehyun grins, and launches into a monologue about his first year as a graduate student at a new campus, and the fact that he’d had to move across the country to go to the school of his dreams. Sana tells them about a potential gap year she’s planning on taking, and Lucas tells them all about his past year spent in China, and how he wants to go to Thailand next. Jungwoo and Hyorin find out they’re both going to school for childhood education, and gush about their respective programs for a while, comparing and contrasting. Even Mark mentions that he’s switched his major to music production this past year in order to follow his true passion, despite the fact that such a late switch will delay his graduation by another two years at least. Jeno says his architecture degree is going great, and he’s on track to graduate next year, and Hyuck echoes the sentiment with his vocal music degree. 

“Jaemin, what about you?” Their eyes turn to him, expectant and genuinely interested. Jaemin’s smile is already fixed in place as he just takes a sip of his water, thinking. He adjusts his smile, turns the corners of his lips up just a bit more, and says,

“Oh, you know me. Medical school and all.” They blink back, and Jeno opens his mouth. Jaemin can tell Jeno’s going to ask for more details when there’s none he can give, so quickly he blurts out, “But what about you, Doyoung?”

Doyoung smiles and starts to tell them about the internship that he got in the past year, and Jaemin focuses his full attention on him, pointedly ignoring Hyuck and Jeno’s eyes on his face. 

The two of them turn back to the conversation, and Jaemin breathes a sigh of relief as finally, the moment passes. 


	3. Week Two

Jeno runs across Jaemin at the office after assignments on Sunday afternoon. He’s grinning, visibly excited as he talks with Chenle and Renjun. Jeno makes his way towards them, hands shoved deep in his pockets, Hyuck and Mark in tow. 

“Hey guys, how’s it going?” 

Jaemin grins and drapes an arm over Jeno’s shoulder, drawing him closer. “Great! Have you gotten your assignment yet?” Jeno shakes his head. 

“Nah. Was about to get in line.” He looks over his shoulder to the door and sees the staff swarming around, so he figures he has some time to kill. He turns back to the group just as Chenle says,

“Where are you guys this week?” 

“It’s my lifeguarding week,” Hyuck says, brandishing the paper. “Jaemin’s on resource too, which he deserves after the hell of a week he just had.” Jaemin snorts.

“I’ll have you know that I _liked_ Alex,” he says, rolling his eyes good naturedly. “Poor kid was just a little bit stressful thanks to his parents.”

“That sucks,” Mark says sympathetically. “The kid can’t control the way his parents act.” Jaemin nods his head sadly in agreement.

“Yeah. I just hope they snap out of it,” Jaemin says. He brightens and lets his arm fall from Jeno’s shoulder in excitement. “But yeah! I’m in the Redwood Center. Time to put my skills to good use!” His smile widens and Renjun snickers, covering his mouth with a hand to hide it.

“Hold your horses, nurse boy, you still have one more year of school to get through before you can use those skills.” Jaemin laughs, but his eyes are oddly harsh, and the corners of his lips turn downward just slightly. Jeno blinks and suddenly Jaemin’s laughing along just fine, so maybe he imagined it. _Only one week and the exhaustion is setting in,_ Jeno thinks to himself, burying his hands into his hoodie’s pocket. _Not looking good for the rest of the summer._

“Anyway,” Jaemin says, changing the subject with an amiable smile. “What camp are you counseling this week, Renjun?” He drapes his other arm across Renjun’s shoulder. “I heard Chenle is taking over as Crafty Buddy this week.”

“He sure is,” Renjun says, strange pride in his voice as he ruffles Chenle’s hair. Chenle beams, and Renjun continues, saying,“In the meantime, I’m doing High School Camp.”

“Oh nice,” Mark says, perking up at Renjun’s words. “It’s really fun, I did it the last two years. The kids are like, actually able to have deep cabin talks with you, so it’s pretty cool.” He pauses, lost in thought. “I’m curious to see what I get this time around though. I have a feeling it won’t be High School.”

“Personally, I want to do Buccaneer,” Jeno says, pushing his hair out of his eyes and scrunching his nose. Jaemin’s eyes meet his, alight with curiosity. “I mean, we all know it’s the superior camp, and I’ve done Sherwood and High School before.”

They nod in understanding, and Hyuck brightens up suddenly, looking past Jeno’s shoulder. “Hey, the line is like, pretty much nonexistent. You and Mark should go get your assignments while you can.”

He and Mark get in line, and soon enough he’s inside the office, and Taeyong handing Jeno his assignment with an angelic smile on his face. “So, Mark’s going to be your co,” Taeyong says, and Jeno very nearly jumps for joy. There’s nothing better than having a co-counselor to share the burden with, especially with large cabins, and from a short glance Jeno had given his paper, there's twelve kids in theirs.

“Plus, you’re in Buccaneer this week!” Taeyong says excitedly. “It’s your first time, right?” When Jeno nods shyly, Taeyong beams. “Well, I think you’ll do amazing. Feel free to move into the cabin with Mark before staff meeting on the BGF in an hour!”

Jeno leaves the office and Mark raises an eyebrow, about to head inside himself. “So?”

Jeno grins. “Buccaneer! _And_ you’re my co,” he says. Mark’s eyebrows shoot into his hairline, and he and Jeno high five.

“Heck yeah,” Mark says excitedly. “We’ll be the best co-counselors _ever_.” Jeno grins back, equally excited, and Mark shoots him one last grin before he pulls open the door to the office to go get his own assignment sheet. 

»»——⍟——««

Mark is excited to have Jeno as a co. The last time he’d had one, it was a Bridger who hadn’t been serious about being a counselor. The whole week had been a nightmare, and he still shudders to think about it. Needless to say, Jeno is a massive step up from that kid, and to top it all off, Mark genuinely likes Jeno. They’re close, having bridged together in Mark’s senior year. 

He’s about to head off to Staff Area with Jeno to retrieve their luggage when Hyuck calls after him, waving. Jeno laughs. “You’d better see what he wants,” he says. “You know how Hyuck is. Meet you in Staff Area in a few minutes?” 

Mark acquiesces with a small nod and turns back, walking over to Hyuck as Jeno continues on, walking around the back of the office and out of sight. The rest of the group has disbanded, and Mark can see Jaemin and Renjun walking back towards Vernon with Chenle. 

“Hey Hyuck. What’s up?”

In quintessential Donghyuck fashion, he gets straight to the point. “Listen, if a kid gets injured this week, god forbid, you should send Jeno to the Redwood Center with them when possible.” Mark quirks an eyebrow up, waiting for Donghyuck to laugh, say it’s all a joke. But the admission never comes. Donghyuck looks perfectly serious, arms crossed and eyes fixed on Mark’s. “Plus, just get Jeno to do meds, I know it kinda freaks you out, he wouldn’t think it was weird.” Mark frowns. “Well, I was kinda gonna ask him about that anyway, but why do you want me to make Jeno do that stuff?” Donghyuck smirks, letting his hands fall to his hips. 

“Easy. Jaemin.” Mark huffs out a breath. _Of course._ Donghyuck’s eyes are burning, scrutinizing his response, searching his face for his thoughts. 

“Yeah, that’s been going on for way too long,” Mark says, sighing, eyes flickering down to the ground. He takes a bracing breath and meets Donghyuck’s eyes again, a small smile on his face. “Fine. I’ll send Jeno when I can, and it won’t disrupt the program.” Hyuck beams, bouncing forward on the balls of his feet and throwing his arms around Mark’s shoulders.

“Thanks Mark!” he says brightly, and then he suddenly turns tail, heading to the pool, just across from the office. He turns back to wave. “I’ve got a pool to clean! See you around!”

Mark just waves back, bemused. He shakes his head as Donghyuck turns the corner and disappears into the pool bathrooms. He sighs fondly and turns to go meet Jeno in Staff Area. 

_Oh Jeno,_ Mark thinks. _Good luck._

»»——⍟——««

Buccaneer camp gets off to a rousing start with Johnny blowing the horn and calling all the kids together on the Big Green Field. He’s dressed as a pirate captain, complete with long coat, three pointed hat, and wicked grin as he watches the campers settle beside their counselors on the slight grassy hill. His eyes flash as he brandishes the horn, long and black and painted with a skull and crossbones (a sharp contrast to Sherwood’s rainbow horn), and he yells, “Welcome to camp!” 

Yuta and Guanheng, equipped with their own pirate hats, lead the camp in a cheer. Yuta has a red bandana tied around his wrist, matching Jeno and Mark’s own, while Guanheng has a black bandana, matching with Dejun, Sicheng, and some of the other counselors. 

“I’m your captain this week, Captain Johnny!” Johnny says. Some of the returning campers cheer, and the rest slowly catch on and join in until the whole camp is chanting _“JOHNNY! JOHNNY! JOHNNY!”_

Johnny conducts them, grinning, and takes a little bow before hushing them and turning to Yuta and Guanheng, saying, “And these here are my quartermasters, the swashbuckling Yuta,” Yuta smiles brightly and waves his bandana. The red-bandana counselors cheer loudly, and their kids join in a moment later. When the cheering dies down, Johnny continues and says, “and the fearless seafarer, Guanheng!” Guanheng puts his hand to his ear as his own group of cabins burst into applause and whooping, saluting him with total sincerity.

“Welcome to Buccaneer! We’re the most hardcore camp around!” Cheers break out at this exclamation and Johnny continues, saying, “This week we’ll be doing some crazy hikes, sleeping outside under the stars, and taking control of the high seas under the leadership of your quartermasters!” Johnny is grinning, visibly excited, and the campers grin, trading glances, the anticipation palpable. After all, it’s hard not to get excited when all the staff is so into it.

“But!” Johnny swings the horn until it’s balancing straight upright on his hand, holding up his other hand to hold off the kids exclamations. “Because we’re so hardcore, we also have some pretty hardcore rules to make sure everyone stays safe. We have three main rules, and your counselors are going to help demonstrate so that you can guess!” 

That’s their cue. Jeno meets Mark’s eyes and they head up to the front to join Sicheng, Dejun, Koeun, Yiyang, and Hina, the kids bursting into chatter. They huddle together, backs to the campers. “Okay, so what’s the plan?” Jeno whispers.

“Be safe first, right?” Hina whispers back. Jeno nods, and the others follow suit. “Okay, then how about Sicheng, Yiyang and Dejun do the rocks and sticks, Koeun and I take running, Mark and Jeno take closed toed shoes?” There are murmurs of agreement all around the small circle, and they break into the assigned pairs. Johnny turns and Mark gives him a thumbs up to signal that they’re ready.

“Okay everyone! Watch up here for the first rule!” Johnny shouts over the chatter, and it slowly quiets down as Dejun and Sicheng walk forward as Yiyang stealthily moves to the other side of their makeshift stage.

“Wow Sicheng, look at this awesome rock!” Dejun says loudly, exaggeratedly miming picking something up off the ground. Sicheng’s eyes widen dramatically and he gasps. 

“Wow Dejun, that _is_ an awesome rock.” He looks down at the ground and swoops down, miming picking something up in the same way that Dejun did. The kids giggle. “But look! I found an awesome stick!” 

“No way!” Dejun’s eyes are practically bugging out of his head. “I bet I can throw my rock farther than you can throw your stick!” 

“There’s no way,” Sicheng says with false disdain. “I am the _best_ stick-thrower at camp.” 

“Oh yeah?” Dejun sneers. “Prove it then!” 

In the middle of their false dialogue, Yiyang wanders onto the stage, saying “Wow! What a beautiful day at camp! I’m enjoying a nice walk in a place with rocks and sticks!” The kids giggle at her statement just as Sicheng and Dejun ‘throw’ their rock and stick. Yiyang collapses onto the field, gasping and screaming, and Dejun and Sicheng are only too happy to scream in horror along with her. The kids burst into laughter at the dramatics, and Jeno winks at Mark as they get ready to take the stage. Mark stifles a laugh, and as the screaming from Sicheng, Dejun, and Yiyang gets quieter, Jeno makes the first move. 

“It’s really hot today Mark, don’t you think?” Mark nods, wiping at his forehead.

“Yeah, sheesh! It’s way too hot for sneakers and socks. Let’s wear flip flops.”

“Great idea!” Jeno says enthusiastically, as he mimes slipping on a pair of flip flops, Mark following suit. “I can’t wait to have a super fun day at camp!” Sicheng, Dejun, and Yiyang are already in place, lying on the ground directly in Mark and Jeno’s path.

“I’m a rock!” Dejun says, extra loudly, and though Jeno’s seen him say it three summers in a row now, it never fails to make the kids laugh.

“I’m a stick!” Sicheng adds.

“And I’m a nasty bug!” Yiyang finishes. Mark and Jeno walk forward, acting completely oblivious, and the moment they reach Dejun, Yiyang, and Sicheng, the three pounce on their feet, snarling and growling. Mark and Jeno howl in falsified pain, stumbling backwards away from the others, the kids collapsing into laughter again. 

Hina and Koeun are ready, Hina yelling, “Hey Koeun! I’ll race you down Nazarian to Vernon! Last one there is a stinky egg!” The kids are near hysterical at the insult, but Koeun draws up in mock offense. 

“Oh yeah Hina? We’ll see who gets called a stinky egg!” They break out running across the grass, ignoring the others, before tumbling over their own feet moments later.

“Ow, I have a scrape!” Koeun cries.

“My knees are bleeding!” Hina sobs, clutching her knees.

“And, scene!” Mark claps his hands and they all get up, grinning as the campers clap, some still laughing from all the theatrics. Johnny joins in the applause. 

“Yes, thank you to your counselors! Can anyone guess the rule?” Johnny scans the kids on the hill, and in typical middle schooler fashion, they avoid his eyes, messing with their shoelaces or twisting bracelets around their wrists. Jeno remembers when they were in Buccaneer camp, and Jaemin had only one friendship bracelet from the year before. He would look down and play with his bracelet all the time to avoid having to answer questions exactly like this one.

A girl timidly raises her hand and Johnny calls on her. She shrinks a little under all the eyes that suddenly turn to her, but she still says, “Don’t throw rocks? Or sticks?” 

Johnny smiles encouragingly. “That’s a good answer, and yeah, please don’t do that. Think more broadly!”

Another girl sticks her hand up, clearly emboldened by the one who came before. Johnny grins and she says, “Be careful and stay safe?”

Johnny beams. “Bingo!” He says. “The number one rule here at camp is to be safe. That means wearing closed toed shoes, not running where it might be unsafe, and listening to your counselors. As for sticks, leaves, and rocks, well, here at camp we call them levitrites.” He pauses, and Jeno enjoys the look of confusion on the kids faces before Johnny smirks and says,

“Because we Leave It Right there!” The kids groan, and Jeno can’t help but snicker to himself. He sees Hina rolling her eyes fondly, and Koeun stifling a laugh behind her hand. Johnny claps his hands together. “Next rule!”

The huddled circle happens again to prepare for Be Kind, and Jeno and Dejun take the stage, playing a clapping game. “Wow Dejun!” Jeno says. “This is so fun!”

“Yeah, Jeno!” Dejun says back, voice full of exaggerated enthusiasm. “I love playing slide with you!”

Mark wanders up to them, eyes wide with excitement. “Hey guys! Can I play?”

“What? No way!” Jeno scoffs, and Dejun nods along fervently.

“Yeah, slide is a two player game, and it requires a lot of skill.” He eyes Mark up and down, raising a single eyebrow. “I don’t think you’re up for it.” The kids snicker at the roast, and Mark frowns, leaving. In the meantime, Sicheng and Koeun are playing their own game. Yiyang approaches. 

“Can I play?” She asks, hopeful.

“Of course!” Sicheng says, stepping back to allow her into their small circle. “The more the merrier!” Koeun turns to Mark, who has sat down on the grass to fake pout, and calls him over.

“Hey, Mark! Come hang out with us!” He brightens dramatically, and the four of them play the game together. Dejun claps his hands, ending the scene. This time, Guanheng takes the lead, and after a few guesses, the kids stumble on some variation of Be Kind, the counselors already huddling up to prepare for Respect Nature.

“Dejun, you have to do the creek fish, you’re way too good,” Yiyang says softly, grinning. Dejun nods in agreement, equally excited.

Sicheng grins. “Me, Jeno, and Mark pick grass, Hina, Yiyang, and Koeun do showers?” They nod, and Dejun goes to lie on the ground in the very front. 

As soon as Guanheng steps aside for the next skit, he starts flopping around, saying loudly in a deadpan tone, “I’m a coho salmon!” 

The kids laugh at his antics as Jeno approaches with Mark. “Wow, it’s hot out today!”

“You know Jeno, you just said that!” Mark says, and the kids laugh, remembering the first skit. “It’s good that we’ve got a nice, cold creek at camp then. Let’s go walk in it!”

“Mark, that’s a fantastic idea!” Jeno says. “Let’s go!” The two of them walk behind Dejun and start jumping up and down while Dejun flops around, screaming until he lies still, sticking his tongue out grotesquely. In the meantime, Jeno and Mark move on, settling onto the ground beside Sicheng.

“Hi Sicheng!” Jeno says, overly enthusiastic. “What’cha doin’?”Sicheng grins, miming pulling at the ground.

“I’m picking grass!” He responds. “Wanna join?”

Mark and Jeno nod enthusiastically and the three all begin pretending to pick grass as Hina, Yiyang, and Koeun set up their scene. Koeun stands in between the two girls, sticking her hand straight up and out. “I’m a shower!” She says. 

Yiyang approaches first. “Wow, I’m all dirty and gross from all the super fun hardcore things we’ve been doing at camp all week!” She exclaims, smelling her armpits and waving a hand in front of her nose in disgust. The kids snicker. “What I need is a nice shower!” 

She approaches Koeun and presses her bellybutton, and Koeun begins to wiggle her fingers, making the sound of rushing water. Suddenly Hina approaches, waiting outside the fake shower for her turn. Yiyang ignores her, rubbing her arms and running her hands through her hair. “The water is so nice and warm!”

“Why is this taking so long?” Hina complains loudly, tapping her feet and checking her wrist. “It’s been two whole hours!” The kids laugh outright at that, and finally, Yiyang sighs, going to turn off the ‘shower.’

“What a fantastic shower!” She says, leaving. Hina sighs in relief, hurrying inside. 

“Thank goodness!” She says. But when she reaches out to press Koeun’s bellybutton, she shrieks, running away. “It’s ice cold!” Sicheng rushes onto the scene.

“We’ve run out of water at camp!” He wails dramatically, collapsing to the ground. The kids laugh as he continues. “Everyone’s going to be dehydrated, and how are we supposed to cook?” Jeno claps his hands together, and the scene ends. 

After another round of guessing lead by Yuta, they arrive on Respect Nature, and Johnny takes the lead again. “Thank your counselors everybody!” The kids clap and they all return to sit with their campers again.

Jeno is just sitting back down when Johnny continues, saying, “So those are the main rules at camp, but we do have some more serious ones.” The kids sober up immediately, some straightening a little where they sit, eyes nervous, others shifting their gaze around, playing with their fingers. A few roll their eyes, clearly sent to camp against their will, but they all reluctantly listen up. 

“No substances like alcohol or drugs of any kind are allowed here at camp,” Johnny says, voice hard and final. “That includes medicine. Anything like that needs to be checked in with the Redwood Center, and you can get it back at the end of the week. Also, obviously no weapons,” Johnny says seriously. “That includes pocketknives. And yeah, some camps let you have pocketknives for cutting wood and rope, but even we aren’t that hardcore in Buccaneer. If something really needs to be cut, we can do it for you.”

“Tonight is your grace period,” Yuta interjects. “If you have a pocketknife that you didn’t know wasn’t allowed, or any drugs, alcohol, or medication — prescription or otherwise — to check in, give them to your counselor tonight and there won’t be any consequences.”

“If we find them after tonight,” Guanheng says seriously, “There will be consequences, and serious ones. That’s something that you can be sent home for, and nobody wants that, so make doubly sure that anything like that gets checked in tonight, okay?” The campers all nod hastily in agreement, and Johnny shares a grin with all of them, breaking the tension.

“Awesome! Now let’s head up Buccaneer Hill! Let’s try to give anything to the counselors before dinner, if possible,” Johnny says. He swings the horn, smiling winningly, and takes the lead, climbing up the grassy hill to Nazarian. “Follow me!” 

The kids scramble up and follow suit.

They hike up the hill that just last week, Jaemin and his campers hiked up and down, but when they reach the top the decorations have completely changed from jungle leaves and animal names of yurts to pirate flags and torches. Jeno and Mark herd their campers to Yurt One, the largest of the lot, and supervise them as they scramble around.

“Make sure to check your luggage for anything you need to turn in!” Mark says, Jeno already pulled into helping a camper sort through his particularly large bag. Soon enough, five of their campers have procured non-prescription drugs, cough drops, and even one pocketknife. A sixth camper dumps some ibuprofen into Jeno’s waiting hands, and Mark mutters,

“Do you mind taking this stuff to the Redwood Center? I kinda need to catch Johnny to tell him something on the way down to dinner.”

“Yeah, sure,” Jeno says, unbothered, as the kids file out of the yurt to rejoin the rest of the group. “I’ll meet you down at Vernon?” 

“Yeah!” Mark flashes him a grateful smile. “Thanks, man.”

“Anytime.” Jeno takes the remaining medication from Mark’s hands, sliding his backpack off his shoulder and depositing it into one of the front pockets. He leaves Mark with the kids, heading down the hill ahead of the rest of them. As he walks farther and farther away, the chattering voices fade and he’s left with only the sounds of his feet on the path and the wildlife all around, birds singing as they head home to nest. 

By the time his feet hit concrete, the sounds of camp are already filtering back into his ears, breathless laughter and amicable chatter the soundtrack of his journey. He sees Renjun on the field with the High School campers playing some sort of large game, and waves at Yangyang, who is also counseling High School but looks less busy than Renjun. He receives an enthusiastic wave back, wide grin across Yangyang’s features, and Jeno’s lips can’t help but tilt upwards in response. 

He passes by the Craft Shack, and sees Jisung sitting on top of one of the picnic benches with Chenle beside him sorting through paintbrushes. Jisung lifts a hand in greeting and Jeno, already halfway up the Redwood Center stairs, smiles and waves back. Chenle turns to see who Jisung is waving at and a smile bursts across his face as he drops the paintbrushes in order to wave with both hands. Jeno snorts, but waves back just as enthusiastically.

He turns back around as he reaches the top of the stairs and opens the door. Jaemin is rummaging in a cupboard, the open door blocking his face. His voice drifts out from behind it, warm and welcoming, saying,

“I’ll be with you in a moment!” Jeno just smiles.

“No rush.”

Jaemin jerks his head back, suddenly coming into view, smiling brightly. “Jeno!” He closes the cupboard, abandoning whatever it was that he’d been doing before to come closer, leaning up against the examination table. “What brings you here?”

“I’ve got some non-prescription meds to turn in, plus a pocketknife.” Jaemin’s eyebrows raise at that as Jeno takes his backpack off, opening the pocket and emptying it’s contents onto the examination table. “There’s twelve campers in Mark and I’s cabin, so there’s a lot more than usual.”

“You can say that again,” Jaemin muses, already going over to the big metal cupboard where all the checked in medicine is kept during the week. Pulling it open, he scans the contents with a small frown before his eyes light up and his mouth quirks upwards, satisfied. He pulls out a small plastic box labelled with blue tape that says “Buccaneer, Yurt One” in sharpie lettering. 

Jaemin pulls off the plastic lid and holds it out to Jeno. “Just dump it all in there.” Jeno obliges, scooping up the small mountain of meds and dumping them inside so Jaemin can seal them up again. 

As he turns away to put the box back where it came from, he says, “I’m about ready to head to dinner, I just have to grab the dinner meds. If you’re willing to wait a minute, we can walk over together.”

“Yeah, no problem. Mark’s got the cabin covered,” Jeno says absentmindedly as his eyes roam the room, the extra beds that they had slept on not even a week earlier, the examination table, the counter and sink, the refrigerator where the medicines that had to stay cold were kept, and the freezer above it, where the nurses had Otter Pops for the patients (and occasionally the Redwood Center Staff). He looks at Jaemin, at how flawlessly he fits in here, how in his element he looks.

Jeno can remember the day that Jaemin told him he wanted to be a doctor. They’d been seventeen, and paired up for an hour to walk around the camp, to get to know one another and share as much or as little as they wanted. 

They had wandered onto the playground and were sat underneath the stairs, a small space when Jaemin was close enough for Jeno to see his eyelashes on his cheeks when Jeno asked him, “What do you want to do?” He had asked without thinking. He had asked as someone young and unsure in everything, someone completely lost as to what he wanted to do, someone who was desperately trying to find some kind of answer from someone else. 

Jaemin considered it, dragging his hand through the woodchips, eyes distant. “I want to be a doctor,” he said finally, after a long moment of silence. Jeno blinked.

“Why?”

“Because,” Jaemin had said simply, “I want to help people. That’s what I’m good at.” 

It had struck Jeno then, and it strikes Jeno now, again, that Jaemin was the kind of person to be admired. Someone who knows what they want and pursues it fearlessly, at any cost. Someone that Jeno knows he can never be, because he’s just too selfish.

“What’s up with the face?” Jaemin teases, and Jeno snaps back to reality, Jaemin smiling at him, no trace of any actual insult in his eyes, only curiosity. “You totally spaced out.”

Jeno shakes himself and smiles back at Jaemin. “Nothing. I just got reminded of something, no big deal.” 

“Well, okay then,” Jaemin says, shrugging. In one hand he’s holding a massive Ziploc bag full of meds for the whole camp, and in the other, he has a clipboard to record administering them. “You ready to go?”

Jeno nods, leading the way out. Jaemin locks the door behind them, and they wander down the stairs side by side. Jeno vaguely notes that Chenle and Jisung are gone — the Craft Shack is locked and the paintbrushes are gone from the table — presumably to eat dinner. 

The sun is truly beginning to set now, color spreading across the sky like watercolors on wet paper, rose bleeding into lilac. The sounds of dinnertime chatter increase in volume as he and Jaemin fall into step beside one another, approaching Vernon. After passing through the steam line together, Jaemin splits off from Jeno, promising to come sit at his table later once the dinnertime meds have been distributed. 

In the meantime, Jeno makes his way to the outside patio where the Buccaneer kids sit around tables, surrounded by pirate-y decor. Rope meant to resemble rigging and pirate flags hang from the patio’s poles, and various plastic props sit on top of the railing surrounding the patio. 

Jeno spots Mark within a few moments, sitting with half of their cabin, and waves. Mark waves back and gestures to the table adjacent to his, where the second half of the cabin sits with a few empty seats open. Jeno grins at Mark, giving him a thumbs up. Mark returns it with his usual amiable smile and returns to eating as Jeno sits in one of the empty seats, grinning at the boys around the table.

“Hey guys,” Jeno says with a smile. _Friendly, friendly, friendly._ Once middle schoolers decide they hate you, there’s no going back. Not to mention, they’ll convert all their friends to the same belief, and then you’re doubly screwed. Luckily, the introduction seems to go over well, the boys welcoming him with a smile, none too standoffish. Encouraged, Jeno takes a bite of his pasta.

“So you guys, tell me your names again?” Jeno asks, scanning the table. “I feel like you all know mine since you only have to memorize two, but I have to memorize twelve, so I’m going to need a few reminders, you know?”

One of the boys snickers, taking another bite of pasta. The other boys look to him. “I’m Dohyeon,” He says with a smirk upon swallowing.

“I’m Sangchul!” The boy beside him pipes up, a little smaller than the others, a wide smile on his face, far more open then the ambivalent expressions from the others. He must be younger, Jeno thinks.

The two of them sharing their names seems to motivate the others, a line of names falling from the other’s lips. 

“I’m Jinyoung,” one boy says softly, adjusting his glasses nervously.

“Minhyuk.” He seems reserved, but there’s a hard twinkle in his eye that Jeno finds intruiguing.

“Kyungjae!” He smiles widely, bubbly.

“I’m Minjae.” The last boy shakes Jeno’s hand a little awkwardly, but it’s still endearing. Jeno makes sure to shake his hand back properly before turning to smile around the circle, praying that he remembers these names right. 

“Well, Dohyeon, Sangchul, Jinyoung, Minhyuk, Kyungjae, and Minjae, it’s lovely to meet you. I’m your counselor, Jeno.”

They pipe up with a chorus of _nice to meet you too’s._ Sangchul’s is just a bit louder than the others, and Dohyeon’s is so quiet that it’s barely audible as he looks down and pokes at his food with his fork, rolling his eyes. Jeno feels his heart sink. A kid feeling excluded? Jeno’s got it. A kid doesn’t seem to be willing to get involved? Jeno knows exactly what to do. But a kid who doesn’t want to be at camp and has no respect for him whatsoever? Jeno’s _completely_ lost. 

Salvation comes in the form of Na Jaemin, falling into the seat across from Jeno, million watt smile at the ready. 

“Hey, Jeno!” Jaemin chirps. “Which one of these guys is Dohyeon?”

“I’m Dohyeon,” Dohyeon interjects before Jeno can say a word. “What do you want?”

Jaemin raises an eyebrow at Jeno, a silent message of _oh, so that’s how this kid is?_ Jeno doesn’t respond, just takes another hasty bite of pasta, because middle schoolers are smart enough to catch them sharing glances like that and he’s not interested in antagonizing any of them.

Jaemin shifts his focus to Dohyeon. “I’m Jaemin, I work in the Redwood Center. Here are you dinnertime meds.” He slides them across the table and winks. “I’m basically a legal drug dealer.”

Dohyeon blinks, mouth open in shock, as the rest of the table of boys bursts into laughter. Jeno snorts, because it’s just like Jaemin to come in and charm his campers half to death before he even gets the chance. The rest of the dinner is full of laughter, Jaemin telling joke after joke, even Dohyeon hanging onto his every word. 

After dinner, Jaemin waves goodbye and heads back to the Redwood Center, and the entire walk back up Buccaneer Hill, his campers chatter about Jaemin, asking question after question of how they met.

Jeno tells them all about Bridge, and a little about counseling together. Dohyeon sighs begrudgingly. “I guess you’ve got to be chill. After all, you’re friends with Jaemin, and _he’s_ chill.” Jeno wants to say that that isn’t how that works, but he just got into Dohyeon’s good graces, and he’s not eager to jeopardize that.

“Yeah,” Jeno says, biting his tongue and trying not to think about the time Jaemin threatened to set the monopoly board on fire because he got last place. “Jaemin’s super chill.”

»»——⍟——««

Early in the morning on Hardcore Tuesday, Jeno stands beside Mark, sipping the coffee from their counselor’s meeting as they wait for Donghyuck, who is supposed to be coming up the hill with the camp truck, while the others finish up the meeting. Today is Buccaneer’s grueling hike to the Ridge, the highest point on camp grounds, and they’ll be spending the night sleeping up there, overlooking the valley, so they need someone to take up the kid’s sleeping bags and luggage. 

Jeno lets his eyes fall shut, taking another sip of coffee, feeling the warm steam against his face in the cool morning. The sky is grey, the light only beginning to struggle over the horizon as the birds chirp, waking up for the day. The campers lie on tarps in front of them, fast asleep for all that Jeno can tell. He snorts into his coffee, thinking about how he and Jaemin would always be the first to wake up and would make faces at one another across the tarp while waiting for the counselors to wake everyone up officially.

Mark glances over at the sound, curious, but he turns away when suddenly the sounds of the truck’s old, wheezing engine reach their ears. As they watch, the truck comes into view from around a curve in the road, dust billowing up behind it, the sound of rubber crackling over gravel excessively loud in the silence. 

Donghyuck is behind the wheel, Jaemin beside him in the front seat, and even from so far away Jeno can see the smiles on their faces despite the early hour. The truck rumbles to a stop, the engine shuddering and dying as Donghyuck pulls the keys from the ignition. Jaemin swings the battered door open, his feet hitting the ground as he hoists a large red bag with a white cross over his shoulder. He closes the door as quietly as possible, Donghyuck already crossing around the front of the truck, grinning widely at Jeno and Mark. 

“What’s up losers,” he whispers as loudly as possible. Jeno rolls his eyes, and it’s Mark’s turn to snort. 

“Not much,” Jeno whispers back. “You got the breakfast stuff?” 

“Yeah,” Donghyuck whispers, as Jaemin approaches and joins their little circle, flashing a smile. 

“First-aider, reporting for duty,” he says quietly, his hand raising to his forehead in a tiny salute. Jeno stifles a laugh in his hand. Donghyuck turns to Jaemin and grimaces. 

“Yeah, not for another hour or two,” he says. “Right now, you are fire and grill boy supreme, because I’m not making like, a thousand pancakes by myself.” Jaemin just grins and sets the first aid bag down by the side of the yurt. He straightens back up and holds his hands out, inviting. 

“I’m at your disposal,” he says, grinning, and the four of them laugh softly until they’re interrupted by the door of the yurt swinging open, the other counselors filing out. Dejun is the first one to emerge, his eyes brightening at the sight of Donghyuck and Jaemin, and he gives an enthusiastic wave, nearly dropping the cup in his other hand. By the time the other counselors have filed out, followed by Johnny, Yuta and Guanheng crest the hill, Guanheng with speaker in hand.

After some brief set-up, Johnny gives the go ahead and Guanheng starts blasting the Pirates of the Caribbean theme song from the speaker, the counselors dispersing among the campers and yelling to wake up. Jeno walks among the campers beside Mark, chanting _“HARDCORE TUESDAY! HARDCORE TUESDAY! HARDCORE TUESDAY!”_

Mark joins in all too happily as the kids blink awake, rubbing their eyes and looking around, confused by the sudden influx of noise. After a moment, most of the kids are sitting up and starting to move their sleeping bags and pillows back to their respective yurts, vanishing inside to get changed. 

“I say Hardcore, you say Tuesday!” Mark yells. “Hardcore!”

“Tuesday!” Jeno responds, some of the kids sleepily joining in.

“Hardcore!”

“Tuesday!”

They move until they’re standing on either side of Kyungjae, who is fast asleep, and continue their chant on either side of him until he groans, turning over to bury his face in the pillow. Jeno grins over at Mark, and Mark nods as they step the volume up a notch, until they’re practically screaming.

“HARDCORE!” 

“TUESDAY!”

“HARDCORE!”

“TUESDAY!” 

“Oh my god, I’m awake!” Kyungjae sits up, and Jeno and Mark lean back. Jeno can’t keep himself from laughing just a little, and Kyungjae rolls his eyes. Jeno decides to take it as a _friendly_ eyeroll.

With all of their kids awake, Jeno lets himself into the yurt, Mark hot on his heels. It’s a state of barely organized chaos in there, and even though it’s only been a single day and they even slept outside, the yurt already reeks of teenage boy. It’s all Jeno can do not to wrinkle his nose as he says,

“Alright everyone, it’s Hardcore Tuesday, which means —” 

“— today’s the hike to the Ridge!” Mark says, grinning. “It’s going to be a long hike up there, and we’ll be spending the night, so make sure to pack up your sleeping bag and pillow and bring it out to the tarps after you’re dressed and ready for the day.”

“Dress comfortably! And wear your best hiking shoes!” Jeno interjects, gesturing to his own, battered pair that he’d bought in his senior year. “It’s a pretty steep uphill, so keep that in mind. Plus, we’re staying overnight, so put your pajamas, clothes for tomorrow, and toiletries in your backpack! You’ll need them.”

“Okay, we’ll see you guys out at the picnic benches for our hardcore, up the hill pancake breakfast in…” Mark glances over to Jeno, who hastily checks his watch.

“Thirty-ish minutes!” Jeno announces. “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” The flurry of movement resumes as boys start to throw things in their backpacks and scramble to stuff sleeping bags back in their cases. Mark says aside to Jeno,

“I’ll stay here and supervise, how about you watch the tarp and I’ll send them out to you? They also might need help with breakfast set-up.” Jeno nods.

“Good plan. Don’t hesitate to call if you need reinforcements.”

Mark grins and waves him off, and Jeno leaves him to it, slipping out of the noisy yurt into the relative quiet of the morning. He drinks the last of his coffee as he makes his way over to the yurt and firepit, when Jaemin has started a lively fire, laying a flat pan over it as Donghyuck frantically mixes up pre-made pancake mix with water to make batter. 

“Coming through!” Jeno spins around and steps out of the way of Yuta and Guanheng as they walk by with a table, unloaded from the back of the truck. They set it down on the ground and Yuta straightens, grinning at Jeno. 

“Hey! We could use a hand with the tables if you’re free?” 

“Yeah, of course,” Jeno says, walking a few steps away to throw his empty cup in the trash. “What do you need?” Jaemin, now relieved from fire duty, leaves Donghyuck with the pancakes and joins Jeno as Yuta explains the table setup. Soon, they’ve got a good system going, with Yuta and Guanheng getting the tables from the truck as Jaemin and Jeno set them up to form the makeshift assembly line. 

As they set up the tables in relative silence, Jeno glances over at Jaemin, his hair soaking in the sunlight and turning the pink to rose gold. Jeno blinks and focuses, and soon they develop a rhythm, Jeno turning the table on it's side as Jaemin pulls the table legs out and slides the little metal ring down in order to straighten them, then helping Jeno right them as they move on to the next.

They're setting up the third table when Yuta approaches, a large metal food container in his arms. He sets it down with a huff on one of the tables, and he says "That should be good you guys. The sausages are here and Guanheng's bringing the cooler of milk from the truck, so how about you go help Hyuck?"

Donghyuck, it appears, doesn't really need the help, but Jaemin and Jeno settle on stumps beside him anyway. The fire is roaring, and he's already cooked about twenty pancakes, steaming in a second metal food container, set aside especially for the fresh pancakes. A good five more bubble happily on the grill, and Donghyuck flips one.

He grins at them. "Are y'all ready for the best pancakes you've ever tasted?"

Jaemin laughs. "Yeah, good luck topping the pancakes I make for myself, Hyuck."

"No," Donghyuck says, wiggling his eyebrows. "You don't understand." He balances the spatula on another free stump, making sure the side covered in batter is hanging out into the open air, and then, under the curious eyes of both Jaemin and Jeno, he reaches into his jacket.

Suddenly, Jeno is greeted by the sight of Donghyuck holding out a full, unopened packet of Oreos, a twinkle in his eye. Jaemin grimaces. “Don’t tell me you’re thinking about putting that in a pancake and actually _eating_ it.”

“Okay, I won’t tell you then,” Donghyuck says, haughty, and turns away from Jaemin’s clear distaste to pour a new pancake. 

“This is disgusting,” Jaemin says. “An abomination, a crime against all other pancakes. I thought you had respect, Donghyuck.”

“Okay, drama queen.” Hyuck just rolls his eyes and tosses the pack of Oreos to Jeno. “Hey Jeno, can you help me out and open these?”

Jaemin turns to him, eyes pleading. “Jeno, no. Don’t do this.”

Jeno looks between a desperate Jaemin and indifferent Donghyuck and wavers, but finally he gives it and tears the packet open. Jaemin collapses in disappointment. “I’m sorry Jaem,” Jeno says helplessly. “I’m curious!”

“Jeno knows what’s up,” Donghyuck says, clapping him on the back with a smug smile on his face. “Oreo pancakes are like, the only pancakes ever. I can’t believe you haven’t had them during Adventure Camp’s pancake breakfast, Jaemin. I had them every time I did Buccaneer.”

“We have taste in Adventure Camp,” Jaemin says, watching in horror as Jeno passes an Oreo to Donghyuck, who places it in the center of a freshly-poured pancake and pours more batter on top. “Besides,” he adds, nearly gagging, “I’d reject that hell-creation no matter who offered it to me. I’m willing to bet Jeno will hate it.”

“Oh yeah? And if he doesn’t?” Donghyuck says, eyebrow raised.

“Then I’ll eat it myself,” Jaemin says boldly, and a sinister smile spreads across Donghyuck’s face. 

“Oh, you’re going to regret that.”

“I know I stood behind this, but I’m skeptical,” Jeno says. The Oreo pancake bubbles on the grill and Donghyuck flips it. “I’ve trusted you, but if this isn’t the best pancake I’ve ever eaten in my life, your friendship card is revoked.”

Donghyuck snickers. “ _Trust_ me,” he says, drawing the syllables out, swinging his gaze to meet Jeno’s. “It will be.” 

Donghyuck sends Jaemin to get a plate, and Jaemin reluctantly obliges, despite loudly claiming he wants no part in this affair. When he returns, Donghyuck takes the plate from his hands and flips the pancake onto the plate, handing his creation over to Jeno.

It’s smaller than the average pancake, just large enough to fit the Oreo in the center, and just very lightly browned on both sides. Jeno holds the plate up to the light and squints. _Looks like it’ll be about two bites, no need for a fork,_ he thinks.

“Well?” Jaemin’s voice jerks him out of his reverie. “Are you gonna eat it, or have you recognized the error of your ways?” Jeno sniffs the pancake. It smells _heavenly_. Maybe Donghyuck really is on to something.

“Nah, I’m eating it,” Jeno says, and under the watchful eyes of Donghyuck and Jaemin, he picks it up off the plate and eats the entire thing in two bites. 

The flavor explodes across his tongue immediately, and he closes his eyes just to be able to take it all in. The center of the cookie has melted from the heat and seeped into the already slightly sweet batter to create an incredible harmony of fluffy batter and sweet cream. The actual cookie part of the Oreo has warmed until its texture has become the same as the pancake surrounding it. It’s like a warm, vanilla and chocolate Oreo cake, except it has the texture of a pancake. Jeno’s at a loss to describe it.

He opens his eyes, and both Jaemin and Donghyuck’s eyes are fixed upon him, anticipating.

“I think I’ve tasted God,” Jeno says, eyes wide. 

The effect of his words are instantaneous. Donghyuck springs up from the stump in victory as Jaemin groans and buries his face in his hands. 

“You have to eat it!” Donghyuck crows. “Eat your words Na Jaemin! Eat them, right along with my Oreo monstrosity!”

“Sorry Jaemin,” Jeno says sympathetically, putting the now-empty plate back on the table and rubbing Jaemin’s back with his spare hand as Jaemin refuses to look up. “But I don’t think I’d be a real friend if I let you continue living without tasting this.”

“It’s actually that good?” Jaemin looks up, eyes wide. “Pinky swear?”

Jeno rolls his eyes. “Yes, pinky swear. It’s delicious.”

Jaemin frowns, linking his pinky with Jeno’s own. “Fine. I’ll try it.”

“Oh, you were already going to try it,” Donghyuck says, already done making another one, flipping it onto a new plate and holding it out to Jaemin with a flourish. “Here you are!”

Jaemin eats it, and he says, reluctant, “It’s alright, I guess.” Donghyuck grins at Jeno, and Jeno grins back. That’s Jaemin speak for _that was delicious, but I can’t humiliate myself by admitting it._

“Just admit you like it,” Donghyuck says, rolling his eyes. Jaemin pouts at him, frowning, but finally he says,

“ _Fine._ I like it.”

Donghyuck high fives Jeno and grins, satisfied.

»»——⍟——««

After a long pancake breakfast, punctuated by joy at Jaemin’s return on the part of Mark and Jeno’s yurt, the kids take their stuff from the tarps and throw it up into the waiting arms of Donghyuck and Jaemin, who are standing in the truck bed to receive it. 

“Wait, Jaemin!” Jinyoung calls up to him, eyes wide.

“Yeah?” Jaemin’s eyes are kind. “What’s up, Jinyoung?”

“You’re not driving up in the truck, right? You’re coming with us?”

“Yeah, that’s right!” Jaemin says, grinning. “I’m coming with all the first aid stuff, to make sure that if anyone gets hurt, there’s someone trained to help.” 

“Good,” Jinyoung says, adjusting his glasses on his nose. Jeno smiles at the interaction. Of all his campers, Jinyoung seems to like Jaemin even more than the others, inexplicably drawn to him. Why, Jeno can’t say for certain. Maybe it’s Jaemin’s smiles, the way that just one can make everything seem alright. Maybe it’s Jaemin’s thoughtfulness, the way he always remembers to ask how your day has been, to say hello when he sees you, to remember things that you tell him offhandedly. Maybe it’s the way he always stays positive, even when things seem so difficult that you can’t bear to take another step.

Whatever it is, Jeno’s glad Jinyoung has that connection. It’s cute. 

When the last of the luggage has been loaded up, Jaemin hops down from the truck bed and walks over to the yurt, picking up his abandoned first aid bag, and coming back to stand by Jeno. Johnny blows his horn and the kids gather around, eyes bright and excited, water bottles in hand. 

“All right Buccaneer camp!” Johnny says, grinning. “It’s time to start our hike up to the Ridge!” The counselors cheer and the kids join in, Yuta and Guanheng leading them all. The cheers die down and Johnny continues, saying “Here are the hiking rules! You cannot go in front of me, and you cannot fall behind Jeno, who will be taking up the rear for us today!”

Jeno waves, and the kids swivel around to stare for a moment before Johnny recaptures their attention. “Naval surgeon Na Jaemin will be joining us for this journey,” Jaemin waves, grinning, and a few of the kids from Jeno’s cabin, Dohyeon among them, whoop in excitement. “And he’ll be taking up the rear as well in case anyone gets hurt. If anything happens, someone go to get him and the nearest counselor immediately.” Johnny fixes them with a serious look, and the kids nod understandingly. “Good! If you haven’t used the restroom and filled up your water bottle, do so right now! Everyone will need water, it’s a long and uphill hike,” Johnny says. “You have five minutes to take care of that if you haven’t done so already, and then we’re heading off!”

Mark checks in with Jeno, and between them they check that all their campers are ready just in time for Johnny to blow the horn and start leading them up the hill, rather than down. The kids stream uphill, chattering amongst themselves and trying to keep pace with Johnny. Yuta and Guanheng disperse through the group, and even the other counselors follow suit, leaving just Jeno and Jaemin to wait for the others to leave.

All of Jeno’s campers decide to storm after Mark, who is close to the front, rather than wait behind with him. All of them, that is, but one. 

Jinyoung stays behind, nervously adjusting his glasses on his nose, casting glances up at the hill. It’s admittedly a steep one. Jeno can say he enjoys the hike to the Ridge thoroughly, but he’s pretty much the only one, at least in their friend group. Jinyoung looks like Renjun and Yangyang do every time they have to make the hike: not excited. Jeno smiles at him.

“Alright, let’s get going! One step at a time, and before you know it, you’ll be there!” Jinyoung nods, smiling just a little bit, and they set out, feet crunching on dirt. For a while, things go alright, Jeno and Jaemin walking side by side with Jinyoung at the back of the group, keeping up conversation as they trudge uphill.

It’s a beautiful morning for a hike, the weather pleasantly cool enough to stop them all from sweating buckets without being unbearably cold. The further they go up from camp, the more greenery they see, clover sprawling across the open ground off the trail and moss climbing up the old redwood trees. Even the dirt seems richer, going from brown to earthly red. Boulders covered with moss and lichen line the path uphill, tree branches spidering outwards over the sky when you look up, and Jeno is in his element.

But Jinyoung begins to tire, breathing heavily and shallowly, slowing down until the group is multiple meters ahead of them. Jaemin and Jeno share concerned glances, and suddenly, Jinyoung looks up ahead and stops completely. 

“Jinyoung, what’s wrong?” Jeno asks, stopping beside him. Jaemin stops too, eyes turned up the hill, the group already turning a corner and vanishing from view. 

“I’m too slow,” Jinyoung says between breaths. “I don’t want to hike anymore.”

“You’re not too slow,” Jeno says encouragingly. “The others are just too fast. You’re going at the right pace for you, and that’s totally okay. It’s a really hard hike.”

Jinyoung looks at Jeno, unconvinced, but at least he seems to consider it for a time. He shakes his head, scuffing his shoe against the ground and dropping Jeno’s gaze. “I don’t think so,” he says, utterly discouraged.

“Hey, Jinyoung,” Jaemin says. “When I was your age, I was the slowest person on the Ridge hike too.”

Jinyoung looks up, surprised. “You were?”

Jaemin nods, smiling. “Yep. I totally fell behind everyone, and even though Jeno was a really good hiker, he stayed behind with me and my counselor. That’s how we became friends for the first time.” Jinyoung’s eyes grow wide at Jaemin’s words.

“But you’re a really good hiker now, Jaemin. What the heck happened?”

Jaemin laughs. “I grew to love it! Just look around at all the nature around us right now,” he says, gesturing to the towering redwoods, the ample brush, the view they have from the trail over the valley. “When you get too focused on how hard it is and how long you’ve been walking and how much your feet hurt, you miss out on the totally awesome stuff that’s right in front of you,” Jaemin explains. “Once I remembered to look around, hiking became a lot easier.”

“And the focus prayer,” Jeno mumbles. Jinyoung and Jaemin turn to look at him, and he clears his throat, a little bit caught off guard at the sudden attention. 

“What’s the focus prayer?” Jinyoung asks, eyes curious. 

“Oh,” Jeno smiles and clears his throat. “Well, I do a lot of really hard hikes because hiking is a big hobby of mine, and a lot of the times I hit a point where I think I’m not going to finish. But whenever I get to that point, I pick something to repeat to myself — like, for example, _give me strength,_ or _I can do this_ — and it helps me pull through the hardest parts of the hike.”

“Jeno taught me the focus prayer when we were on a thirteen mile hike together with some of our other friends,” Jaemin says. “I got really tired, and it really helped me.”

“Thirteen miles?” Jinyoung says, mouth open in shock. “That’s crazy.” 

Jaemin laughs. “It was actually incredible, but that’s not the point right now.” His features soften, and he smiles openly at Jinyoung. “The point is, you can do this. No matter what pace you go at, you’ll make it to the top. We’re just taking a long walk uphill together and admiring the wildlife.”

“Okay,” Jinyoung says, nodding at them. “Okay. I can do this.”

Jeno grins. “Heck yeah you can. Now let’s go show that hill who’s boss.”

Sure enough, Jinyoung does it, and though he reaches the top of the Ridge last, he’s greeted by the cheers of the rest of Buccaneer, lead by Mark and his cabinmates. He grins, enveloped in a hug by the other boys, and Jeno stands back, satisfied. He turns to look at Jaemin, and he’s smiling softly, eyes full of something that Jeno doesn’t quite understand as he watches Dohyeon throw his arm around Jinyoung’s shoulders, grinning.

He turns away as Jaemin blinks, clearly snapping out of his reverie and says, “Ah, there’s Hyuck now.” 

Jeno turns, and sure enough, the truck is off to the side, Donghyuck hurrying towards them. “Jaem, you made it! You ready to head down?”

“Sure,” Jaemin says, and waves across the clearing to Mark, who waves back enthusiastically. Johnny starts calling them all together now that everyone has arrived, and Jeno starts to walk away when he feels a hand on his arm and he turns, surprised. Jaemin’s smiling, exasperated. “Think you could get away without saying goodbye?” 

“Of course not, Jaemin,” Jeno says, rolling his eyes. “I just thought it was kind of overkill, since I’ll be seeing you in less than twenty four hours for the hike down.”

Jaemin pouts, and Jeno has never resented the _no hugging where campers can see you, they’re impressionable and might imitate you and make someone uncomfortable_ rule more than he does right now. 

“Fine,” Jaemin sighs dramatically, hoisting the first aid bag up onto his shoulder. He drops the act, grinning. “See you tomorrow!”

“Tomorrow!” Jeno promises, already on his way over to Johnny. He reaches Mark, who glances back between him and Jaemin, eyebrows raised.

“What?” Jeno asks, suddenly feeling rather defensive. 

“Nothing,” Mark says smugly, eyes sparkling.

Jeno opens his mouth to demand that Mark explain himself, but Johnny starts speaking and the conversation fades out in favor of Johnny’s instructions for their next activity.

»»——⍟——««

A few days later at breakfast, Johnny pulls Jeno aside, concern clear on his face. 

“Listen, Jeno,” he says, far more seriously than Jeno expected, and Jeno’s brain is already starting to construct a thousand different reasons that he’s being pulled aside like this, a million little things that he could have possibly done wrong to warrant such a talking-to.

“Sorry,” Jeno says hurriedly, figuring it’s probably best to get it over with. 

“What?” Johnny looks surprised. “Oh, you don’t have to say sorry Jeno, it’s completely understandable! I mean,” he leans in a little bit, saying quietly, “Taeil and I were the same way.”

“Uh, what?” Now Jeno’s lost. 

“Like I said, it’s totally understandable to want to spend time with your boyfriend, but we’re trying to avoid counselor cliques, we want the focus to be on the kids —”

“Okay, hold on, you’ve lost me,” Jeno says, head spinning. He holds a hand up, stopping Johnny. “I don’t have a boyfriend? Not one that I know of, anyway?”

“You’re not dating Jaemin?” Johnny looks shocked, eyes wide. Jeno can feel heat rush through his cheeks and down his neck.

“ _No,_ I am not dating Jaemin,” he says, beyond flustered. “I swear, the campers just love him.”

“Oh.” Johnny’s red now too, and they both avoid each other’s eyes. “Never mind then. Just try not to get to clique-y, I guess?”

“Yep. Thanks Johnny,” Jeno says, fast as he possibly can, and he turns tail, rushing back to his campers, mortified. 

“What’s wrong?” Mark asks as he lays his head on the table, still trying to process the sheer amount of horror he’s experiencing right now. 

“Fine,” Jeno groans. “Just a humiliating misunderstanding. Never let me speak to anyone ever again.” When he manages to pry his head from the table, Mark’s eyes are wide, expectant. Jeno sighs, and says quietly, “I’ll tell you later.”

Mark grins, and lets the matter drop. 

»»——⍟——««

After morning activities with their family groups lead by Yuta and Guanheng, they go back to the yurts. Under Mark and Jeno’s instructions the boys change into water-friendly clothes and head back down to meet with Johnny on the Big Green Field. He’s still wearing his Captain’s hat, but he’s also wearing a wetsuit, and both Yuta and Guanheng are dressed in swimsuits and swim shirts, water shoes on their feet. Ten, always elusive, stands off to the side wearing rubber overalls and heavy boots, ready to act as their guide.

“Ahoy, Buccaneer camp!” Johnny calls out as they approach. “Are you ready for an adventure on the high seas?”

The kids nod eagerly and Johnny says, “We’ll be joined today by Ten, our navigator on this fine quest!”

Ten waves, smiling genuinely around at the kids. “Hi guys! I’m Ten, and I’m a Teacher Naturalist here, so I work here all year round studying the ecosystems here and teaching kids who come with their schools about the environment!” He grins. “Today, we’re going to be exploring the creek at camp, which is a super cool and diverse ecosystem, and home to hundreds of different species of fish, crustaceans, plants, and insects.”

“That’s right, Buccaneer!” Johnny says. “We’re taking a Creek Hike!” As the kids burst into excited chatter, Jaemin sidles up beside Jeno, dressed like a lifeguard. 

“Hey.”

“Oh, hey,” Jeno says, surprised. “You’re lifeguarding the hike? I thought for sure Hyuck would?”

“Oh, he said he was too busy, that something was up with the pool water, so he was bringing in Taeyong to help him fix it,” Jaemin says, shrugging. “So I’m going instead, seeing as I was the only one available who’s also a lifeguard, since Yangyang, Lucas, and Jaehyun are all busy counseling this week.”

Jeno opens his mouth to reply, but suddenly they’re starting to move away and Jeno rejoins his cabin with a quick goodbye to Jaemin, who’s taking up the rear again. They go over past the office and across the bridge that leads out of camp and then under it, into the creek bed. It’s the same place where he and Jaemin spend some of their breaks talking, but this time they’ll be going in the water, and Jeno can’t lie and say he’s not excited.

The creek at camp is normally off-limits — it’s home to an endangered species of salmon that Ten and the other Teacher Naturalists have been working really hard to bring back, and disturbing their environment by having kids play in the creek is generally not a good way to preserve them. But with Ten leading the hike, they can venture into the creek and avoid any places where it would be destructive to walk, so Jeno’s excited for a chance to actually see more of the creek than the part he and Jaemin dip their toes in.

It’s a hot day, sweat sticking to Jeno’s arms, the sun harsh on his skin, even when partially sheltered by tree cover like he is now. The water of the creek is chilly before he adjusts, and it comes as a welcome reprieve from the heat. He traipses along beside Minhyuk, Sangchul, and Dohyeon near the middle of the pack, Sangchul keeping up bubbly conversation as they go, clinging to Jeno’s arm whenever he loses his balance on the slippery creek rocks. 

“Watch yourself,” Jeno says, chuckling amiably as he rights Sangchul again for the third time in a few minutes. “We don’t want you getting hurt.”

“Sorry Jeno,” Sangchul says brightly, but he’s interrupted by a roll of the eyes from Dohyeon, who mutters under his breath,

“Yeah, watch where you’re going, clumsy idiot.”

Jeno frowns at Dohyeon, but before he gets the chance to admonish him for his unkind words, Minhyuk glares Dohyeon down. 

“Don’t say that to Sangchul. Just shut the _f_ —” He glances at Jeno and swallows back the words. “Shut up.”

“What did you just say to me?” Dohyeon’s up in arms now, glaring at Minhyuk right back, and Sangchul has stopped talking, looking alarmed. Jeno intercedes just in time, putting an arm between the two angry boys before things can escalate further.

“Hey, let’s not go there,” He says firmly. The two boys turn their eyes on him rather than each other, both upset with him now for interrupting, but Jeno doesn’t back down. He turns to Minhyuk and says, “Listen, Minhyuk. Thank you for standing up for Sangchul, that was the right thing to do. But it’s not worth fighting with Dohyeon about. Let me take care of that, okay?” 

Minhyuk looks down, embarrassed, and nods, muttering, “Okay. Sorry, Jeno.”

Jeno shakes his head and smiles. “It’s alright, Minhyuk. Thanks for apologizing. How about you and Sangchul go ahead so I can talk to Dohyeon?” Minhyuk nods, and Sangchul bounds ahead after him all too happily, going to join Hina and some of the girls from her cabin just a little bit ahead. As soon as they’re out of earshot, Jeno looks at a sullen Dohyeon, eyebrow raised. 

“Care to explain what that was all about?”

Dohyeon refuses to meet Jeno’s eyes. He scoffs, kicking the water as they start to walk side by side. “Nothing. It’s not that deep, get over it.” He sneers at Jeno, and scoffing, says, “What are you, my _mom_?”

Jeno sighs. “Dohyeon, you really upset Sangchul — and Minhyuk by extension — because of what you said. You broke one of camp’s rules, so it’s my job to talk to you about it, not just get over it.”

“What rule, to _be kind,_ or whatever?” Dohyeon looks unimpressed to say the least, and Jeno knows he’s gonna sound like a mom saying this, but he’s getting sick of his attitude.

“Yes, to _be kind,_ ” Jeno says with all the patience he can muster. “We want everyone to have a good time at camp. And even if we didn’t care about that, being kind is still a good thing to practice.” He looks into Dohyeon’s eyes even as the boy looks away and says seriously, “Sorry, but it isn’t cool to say things that could upset the people around you, or make them feel insecure about themselves.” Dohyeon looks slightly chastised, and he falls silent. For a moment they walk along in silence, and then he mutters,

“I just didn’t want him to get hurt. He was tripping too much.” Jeno’s heart softens at the words, finally understanding that Dohyeon was coming from a misplaced sense of care, not antagonism, and probably just didn’t know how to express himself.

“I told Sangchul to be careful because it’s my job to make sure he’s safe,” Jeno explains gently. “You don’t have that responsibility, so next time, leave it up to me, okay? And in the future, if you want to tell someone to be safe, tell them directly, and use kinder words, like I did.” He smiles understandingly at Dohyeon, relieved that it all got resolved. “Sound good?”

“Wait, I’m not getting in trouble?” Dohyeon looks up, shocked. Jeno shakes his head. 

“No. You clearly regret it, and I don’t think you’ll do it again. Why would there be any more punishment?”

“Oh.” Dohyeon ponders this. Lost in thought, he says, “I always get in huge trouble for every little thing back home.” Jeno feels his heart sink.

“What do you mean?” He asks. His voice is forced into a casual tone, but on the inside his heart is breaking. 

“Oh, I just always get in trouble for dumb stuff, that’s all,” Dohyeon says, shrugging the question off. “I literally can’t do anything right. I get in trouble for breathing with those people.”

He rolls his eyes, and Jeno feels a pang of sympathy. No wonder the kid is so unsure of how to act if he’s criticized for little things, but it’s never explained to him what he did wrong. Jeno’s met a lot of kids with the same problem.

Jeno had once asked Taeyong how he dealt with seeing so many examples of bad parenting each year. “Why does this keep happening?” Jeno had asked, distraught. “How are so many parents so bad at it?”

“There’s no pre-requisite to be a parent,” He’d said. Then, in true Taeyongian optimistic fashion, he’d added, “But most people do the best that they can, and we should try to remember that.”

Jeno does try to keep that in mind as he walks through the water in the creek beside Dohyeon. The conversation eventually turns to other things, and Dohyeon starts smiling and opening up, telling him about how his baseball team went to Nationals this past year and that they almost won the whole thing. 

Jeno’s glad to see him start to loosen up, because for all that middle schoolers like to think of themselves — and school likes to treat them — as if they’re all grown up, they’re still just kids. They still need places to be themselves and feel like they won’t be judged, to try to figure out who they are and how to interact with other people. Camp was always the one place that Jeno felt he could be a kid, even in high school, and he’s so glad to see that it might become that place for Dohyeon, too.

Eventually, they catch up to Sangchul and Minhyuk, walking alongside Hina and her campers. Dohyeon abandons their conversation to walk over beside Sangchul, and a moment later Jeno hears him apologizing genuinely to him as Sangchul just beams, shaking his head and waving the apology aside. Jeno feels pride swell in his chest as Minhyuk and Sangchul step aside to let Dohyeon join them, picking up their conversation and effortlessly including him. 

Hina shares an impressed look with him as they reach a bend in the creek and Johnny slows the group, calling back,

“Okay you guys, this is a creek hike, not a creek swim, so watch your step up ahead, and stay to the left! There’s some deeper parts of the creek, and I mean it when I say deep! I can’t stand up in them, so don’t think you’ll be able to.” Johnny grins. “Onwards, pirate crew!”

They begin to move forward again, Jeno walking alongside Sangchul and helping him balance as they clamber over large rocks and are forced over to the side in a single file line to avoid the deep part of the creek. In fact, he’s so focused on making sure Sangchul doesn’t fall that he’s not paying close enough attention, and as he takes a step forward, he feels that the place that he’s put his foot is unsteady to say the least. 

As he puts his weight on his foot, it’s too late to switch positions and catch his balance, and sure enough, he slips and falls, just managing to let go of Sangchul so he doesn’t drag him down with him. He plunges into the water, and even though his feet and legs were used to the cold, the rest of his body is not, and the water is icy as it closes over his head.

He kicks upwards and breaks through the surface of the water only a few moments later, meeting Sangchul’s terrified eyes. “I’m okay!”

It’s too late to stop Jaemin though — he’s already jumping in the water beside Jeno, making sure that he’s alright. “Oh my god, I’m fine! Nana, I’m fine!”

Jaemin checks his pulse just in case, treading water beside him, and once he’s sure that Jeno’s not in any danger, he sighs in relief. “He’s fine!” He announces to the campers, who have stopped on the banks and gathered around, as close as they can get.The kids cheer, and Jeno smiles, waving. “Thank god,” Jaemin continues, under his breath. Then, louder, he calls out to Ten, adding, “Hey, Ten, where should we swim to?”

Ten shakes his head. “There’s not really a convenient place to get out until a little bit ahead,” He says, pointing up to where the creek makes a turn again. “Right past that curve is where it levels out again and you’ll be able to stand. But actually…” A pensive look steals across Ten’s face. “One second.” 

He pulls Johnny aside, telling him something, eyes imploring as he gestures wildly. Johnny nods, taking in whatever it is Ten is telling him and then he turns back to the group, eyes shining. Ten grins, and says to Jaemin, “This’ll be fun.”

“Navigator Ten has told me that this part of the creek is super safe to swim in, and if you swim you’ll get to see some of the wildlife up a little bit closer!” Johnny says. “Since Jeno and Naval Surgeon Jaemin are both certified lifeguards, we think it’s safe for you guys to swim here now that they’re in the water and on hand in case of immediate danger. That being said!” Johnny pauses dramatically, and the kids lean forward, waiting with bated breath. “I am taking back what I said about this being a Creek Hike and not a Creek Swim — if you would like to swim, feel free to jump right on in!”

The kids in Mark and Jeno’s cabin whoop, and a moment later, Dohyeon, Sangchul, Kyungjae, and Minhyuk jump in alongside a few other boys from the cabin. Yiyang slides in to represent the girl’s cabins as some of the girls venture in as well. Mark, Dejun, and Sicheng stay out to walk with the kids that don’t want to swim — Jeno counts Jinyoung among them, and waves at him brightly from the water. Jinyoung waves back, grinning, but makes no move to join them.

The rest of them swim down the creek, splashing one another joyfully and trying to spot the crawfish underneath the rocks that Ten is teaching them how to find from his place walking above them. Dohyeon swims down a little and says he sees one hiding under the rocks, calling Sangchul and Minhyuk to come see, Kyungjae tagging along enthusiastically. Jeno leads the group, Jaemin taking up the back, and all Jeno can hear of Jaemin is his laughter, traveling up to the front of the line as he plays around with the kids near the back with him.

And so the Creek Hike ends as a Creek Swim, with most of Buccaneer camp traipsing back up the hill hours later completely soaking wet. Jeno notes that their yurt now smells not only like that special brand of B.O. that only middle school boys seem to have, but also like musty, souring creek water as it dries on the floor after the boys have tracked it in, but he can’t bring himself to care.

He thinks of the sound of Jaemin’s laughter in the afternoon air, the genuine fun all of the kids seemed to have, and he doesn’t regret it one moment. In fact, he’s glad that his clumsy mistake made way for a swim in the Creek. After all, when would any of them get such a chance again?

»»——⍟——««

Friday night’s campfire for Buccaneer is always held on the bank of the creek, a trek down from the meadow, and is accompanied by root beer floats and heartily sung sea shanties as a farewell to the week. It’s a warm affair, and Mark is always recruited to play the guitar, with Jaemin on keyboard and Hyuck and Chenle leading them in song. 

Jeno is relegated to run the old-school projector, projecting the lyrics printed on clear plastic sheets onto a makeshift screen of vinyl nailed between two trees. 

The warmth from the campfire settles over them all, swaying back and forth as they sing along beside one another. Jeno’s surrounded by the whole cabin since Mark is the one providing the backing track for Hyuck and Chenle’s voices, and he’s feeling extra sentimental tonight as he looks around at them all. Sangchul is on one side, Jinyoung on the other, Dohyeon just beside Sangchul, Kyungjae just beside Jinyoung. Minhyuk sits off to the side, and the rest of the boys sprawl out from there. 

In the low light from the fire, Jaemin’s fingers glow soft gold as they dance along the keyboard, his eyes shining soft orange in the same light. Hyuck’s voice is like honey, Chenle’s intermingling with it gently, their song ascending above all the other voices, closing out the week quietly and gently, guiding them all calmly to shore at the end of the voyage like benevolent sirens. 

So the second week of the summer ends warmly on the bank of the creek, the music slowly drawing away into silence, the fire fading into the darkness of night, and the stars blinking up in the heavens, almost as if they know that the campers are going home in the morning. 


	4. Week Three

A new week, a new group of kids with a few new counselors added to the mix, and a new schedule. It’s family week, so when Jaemin dons his adventure vest again, it’s just for the day, the kids going back with their families to individual cabins to sleep. 

Plus, with Jaehyun, Jungwoo, Lucas and Yuta gone to work with the adults, being coordinators and Lead Counselors, Jaemin is the most senior member of the Adventure Camp team, so he’s the coordinator for the Adventure Group this week. 

He’s leading the kids through welcoming tours with Hyena Hyorin, Stegosaurus Sana, and the newly added Jackrabbit Jisung and Chipmunk Chenle, and this group of kids is significantly smaller than Week One’s. A little shyer too. 

Jaemin does his best to help them get out of their shells, smiling widely as he walks them around the camp, but regardless of his efforts, the kids are more nervous than usual. Jaemin knows it’s just because their parents are still around, and the kids don’t really like being without them knowing that they’re near, and it’s possible to see them instead of walking around with a pink-haired stranger wearing a strange vest. 

“Okay guys!” Jaemin says as they step on to the Big Green Field. “Welcome to the Big Green Field, or as we like to call it, the BGF! Not to be confused with the BFG, the Big Friendly Giant.” A small girl giggles a little at that, hiding her smile behind tiny hands, and Jaemin smiles especially warmly in her direction. 

“The BGF is super duper special because it’s one of the only places at camp where you can run all the time!” Jaemin steps out ahead of them, turning back to face the small assembled group. “So Adventure Camp, we’re gonna try it out!I’m going to start, and you guys are going to chase me all the way across the field, screaming at the top of your lungs so we can have the most fun! Plus,” Jaemin leans in close, beckoning the kids to take a few steps forward so that they can hear. As they do, Jaemin lets a smile steal across his face as he says, just loud enough for them to hear,

“Your parents are all the way across the street in that big building called the Homestead, and I think we should yell so loud that they hear us, even all the way over there. What do you think, Adventure Camp? Can you guys do it?”

Finally, _finally_ the kids show some sign of engagement, nodding furiously at his words, some of them even smiling. Jaemin grins. “Okay then, on your marks, get set…” He takes of running, shouting over his shoulder, “Go!”

The kids stream after him screaming and laughing, the counselors rushing to keep up. For a moment they’re all in motion, running across the field and trying to catch Jaemin, joyful and screaming laughter carrying across camp, just as Jaemin intended. He can feel the wind against his face and the grass under his feet as he runs and leads the screams, grinning widely at the feeling of freedom that comes along with it.

When he reaches the other side, Jaemin turns around and offers his hand up for high fives, high-fiving every kid as they reach the other side, all of them becoming a panting mess at the end, lying down in the grass. Jaemin even makes Jisung high five him, and when Jisung pouts about it, Jaemin just grins at him and shrugs. Jisung’s still a baby in Jaemin’s eyes. A responsible and very capable baby, but a baby nonetheless. 

Recovering from the invigorating run, the campers slowly begin getting up again at Jaemin and the encouragements of their counselors. Jaemin glances over and sees that Sherwood Forest, lead by Everything’s Under KUNtrol and accompanied by The HAECHANcellor, are about to leave for the next station, leaving the buddies available to talk to. 

Jaemin gathers his camp as they leave, and once Sherwood is gone, he takes the opportunity to approach the steps of the Wood’s Inn, where Jeno, Renjun, Yangyang, and Koeun sit dressed in crazy costumes, ready to greet them. Sicheng sits right in the middle of them, dressed equally as crazily with a pirate hat on his head, oversized party sunglasses on his face, and wearing an old Princess dress, probably from a halloween costume that was bought in the 1970s. 

“Hi Adventure Camp!” He says, smiling gently. “I’m Scorpion Sicheng, and I’m the Buddy Coordinator! We buddies hang around at camp and get to drive the cool trucks and live in special places and make camp happen!” He adjusts in his seat, pulling out his radio, and mimes pressing it. “Jellyfish Jaemin, do you copy?”

Jaemin plays along, pulling out his own radio, and miming answering. “I copy, Scorpion Sicheng,” he says seriously.

“I heard that you have some really cool plans to give Adventure Camp the most exciting week ever! But surely you’ll need help doing that?” Sicheng strokes his chin, and the kids stifle laughs. He straightens, putting his finger up in an exaggerated show for the little ones. “As the Buddy Coordinator, I’ll do anything I can to help you, Jellyfish Jaemin. What do you need?”

“I need three thingamabobs, one zoopdewhirl, and four jigglywinks as fast as possible!” Jaemin says with false urgency, and the sounds of the funny made up words finally make a lot the kids laugh, wide grins spreading through the group. 

“So my job is to organize all the buddies to get all of those things so that camp can be super fun!” Sicheng says. “But that’s all that I do! I’ll let the other buddies introduce themselves now starting with…” Sicheng scans up and down the line before pointing to Renjun. “You.”

“Hi guys!” Renjun says, waving. He’s wearing a lobster costume, a plastic crown placed jauntily on top of his head. Jaemin tries not to laugh at the sight, but it’s hard. Renjun isn’t usually the type to by outright silly, so he’s enjoying the view while he can. 

Renjun continues, saying “I’m Rabbit Renjun, and I’m the crafty buddy. I live just behind this building in the Craft Shack!” He leans backwards over his chair, pointing vaguely in the direction of the Craft Shack to illustrate the point. “I’m always around so feel free to stop by during free time to paint, draw, or make friendship bracelets and lanyards!” 

Renjun smiles, turning slightly in his seat towards Sicheng, who points at Yangyang, who grins and waves. He’s wearing a vibrant purple cape with a neon yellow visor, and honestly, it’s an assault on Jaemin’s eyes and he wishes he didn’t have to look at it. “Hi guys! I’m Yak Yangyang, and this week, I’m the Pool Buddy! If you wanna swim at the pool, I’m your guy! I sit in a chair with a long red floaty thing, and I make sure that you don’t drown and that everyone’s following the rules.” He gestures to Renjun, who waves as he says, “I’m not the only Pool Buddy, we all take turns, and Rabbit Renjun sometimes lifeguards — I mean, is the Pool Buddy too.” Yangyang, looking flustered by his slip of the tongue, begins speaking a little faster, saying, “So yeah! If you’re not hanging out at the Craft Shack or doing other fun stuff, come hang out at the Pool!”

He sits back in his chair, smiling, but his slight embarrassment is given away by the dusting of pink on his cheeks. Subtly, Jaemin gives him a thumbs up, and Yangyang smiles gratefully. In the meantime, Sicheng has already moved on, pointing at Koeun, who is dressed in an inflatable T-Rex costume, a camera around her neck. 

“Hi guys!” She chirps. “I know you can’t really see me, but I’m Kiwi Koeun, and I’m the Photo Buddy!” She lifts her camera up and takes a sudden picture, the kids all blinking in surprise. Jaemin, already prepared with peace signs, winks as the flash goes off. 

“See, I just did my job!” Koeun continues, looking at the screen of the camera, presumably checking the photo she just took. “You all look lovely. I take pictures for you and your family so that after your super awesome week at camp is over, you can go online and get some really pretty pictures to remember it by! If you see me around, smile for me!” She takes another photo and then looks back at Sicheng, who finally turns to Jeno, pointing him out. 

Jeno clears his throat and adjusts the bright green vest he’s wearing. It’s paired with a feathered pointed hat that matches the ones the Sherwood Campers wear, and there’s a bow leaning against his chair, though thankfully there’s a lack of arrows.

“Hi you guys! I’m Robin Hood, and I’m the Archery Buddy. I mostly hang out with Sherwood Forest, teaching them all about the ways of my Merry Men and the art of the bow, but if you see me around, feel free to say hello!” He grins, and then beckons them closer. “If you see someone that looks like me around, but doesn’t have my hat or bow, that’s my twin brother, Jungle Jeno. He drives the truck and helps Sicheng out, but he doesn’t shoot a bow and arrow and fight the Sheriff like I do. We both do different important stuff for camp, so don’t just talk to him about me — he can feel pretty unappreciated if I’m the only thing you mention when you talk to him.”

Jaemin shoves the urge to laugh deep down in his chest, remembering that this part of the introduction was added a few years ago as Hyuck played Robin Hood and no kid would ever stop bothering him when he was out of character. 

“I’m just not going to deal with this again,” Hyuck had said on a Saturday afternoon after the campers had gone home. He reported to Taeyong looking harried, his eyes tired. “I had an army of mini stalkers, how was I supposed to do the other half of my job?” Taeyong had comforted him, overflowing with apologies and sympathy, and since then, the twin story has been a staple of the tour introduction. 

All the introductions made, Jaemin says loudly, pointing behind them,“Hey buddies, look! A distraction!” 

“What?” Sicheng turns immediately, the others following suit, and Jaemin heads up the stairs to join them as Hyorin organizes the kids and teaches them a thank you chant. 

“Hey Jaemin,” Sicheng says, and Jaemin beams, waving. 

“Hey you guys. Anything exciting happen so far?”

Yangyang snickers. “Buccaneer’s cheer was catered towards me.” 

Renjun rolls his eyes, interjecting. “It wasn’t that funny.”

Koeun laughs, high and sweet. “It was, you’re just mad that you didn’t get a tailored chant.” Beside her, Jeno snorts. Renjun just blinks.

“Maybe,” he says. “And what about it?”

Jaemin laughs at Renjun’s words before turning to Yangyang. “Well, what was the chant?”

_“Lifeguard, lifeguard, your hair is brown,”_ Yangyang begins dramatically. He gestures at the others, and they join in, even Renjun, albeit reluctantly. 

_“Lifeguard, lifeguard,”_ they say in unison, _“Don’t let us drown.”_

Jaemin stifles a laugh into his hand as Yangyang lapses into giggles. “They did not reference drowning like that, oh my god.”

“They did,” Yangyang says proudly, drawing himself up straight. “All for me.”

They’re interrupted by the sudden sound of the Adventure campers chanting, Jaemin stepping back as they all drop the conversation to turn back and hear the chant. 

“Buddies, buddies, camp has just begun,” the kids say, lead by Hyorin. Some are louder than others, some clearly don’t know the words, and it’s all a mess, but it’s endearing nonetheless. “Buddies, buddies, we know you’ll make it fun!”

It was barely together and maybe three kids out of all of them managed to say it all the way through, but the buddies still clap vigorously, thanking them for coming and saying that they look forward to getting to know them throughout the week. They leave the Wood’s Inn, Jaemin letting them wave goodbye as they go around the back to see the Craft Shack and their next stop, the Redwood Center. 

Dejun’s standing on the stairs waiting, legs crossed as he leans against the railing. Upon Jaemin’s approach he stands up and straightens, waving at the campers. 

“Hi Adventure Camp! I’m Dragonfly Dejun, and I live in the Redwood Center!” He says, gesturing to the building behind him, all the way at the top of the stairs. “Hopefully you won’t have to visit me, because the Redwood Center is the place where you go if you get hurt, and we don’t want that to happen at camp, when you should be hanging out with your group and having fun!” Dejun grins. 

“So, to make sure that you don’t have to come here and visit, here’s what you’ve gotta do!” Dejun reaches for a can of spray that’s standing on the railing. “Can anyone tell me what this is?” 

A little girl’s hand shoots up, wiggling excitedly in the air. Dejun points her out and asks her name.

“I’m Gazelle Gahyun,” She says, and then eyes bright, adds, “And that’s bug spray!”

“Exactly right, Gazelle Gahyun!” Dejun says, smiling. “Here at camp we have to wear a ton of it, because there are way more bugs up here in the woods than you’ll be used to! We don’t want anyone getting bitten by mosquitoes or anything else, so make sure to use a lot!” He puts it back on the railing, picking up some lotion. “How about this?”

“Is it sunscreen?” A little boy asks, timidly. 

“It is!” Dejun says. “What’s your name?”

“Tortoise Taewoo,” He says shyly.

“Well, Tortoise Taewoo is quite correct!” Dejun says. “Do guys remember how when you all drove to camp you drove on that long, winding road through the forest and you went up and up and up?” The kids nod, and Dejun says, “Well, we’re up in the mountains now, and since we’re so high up, we’re closer to the sun, so it’s way easier to get sunburnt. Nobody wants to be sunburnt, so make sure you apply sunscreen every couple of hours. Your counselors will remind you!”

“But I don’t burn,” A little boy says stubbornly, crossing his arms. “I don’t need any sunscreen. It feels slimy.” He shudders, and a few of the other kids nod vehemently in agreement. Then he tacks on, almost as an afterthought, “Oh, my name’s Kangaroo Kunhan.”

“Well, Kangaroo Kunhan,” Dejun says, “Even if you don’t burn in the sun, and you only tan, your skin is damaged, and you can get really sick later on. You should _always_ wear sunscreen to protect against any kind of damage, even if you don’t see it!” 

Kunhan nods, reluctant, and Jaemin overhears him mutter to his friends, “I guess we’ll have to put sunscreen on, even though it’s _gross_.”

At the top of the stairs, Dejun has already moved on. “Look down, everyone! Can you see your toes?” The kids call back _no’s,_ and Dejun gives them the thumbs up. “If you said no, that’s perfect! We never want to have any open-toed shoes at camp because we don’t want any rocks or sticks or little animals biting your toes!” The kids giggle as Dejun makes a grabbing motion with his hands, as though he’s illustrating the way an animal might go about biting their toes. 

“Finally, I want you all to make me a promise,” Dejun says seriously. “Are you guys listening?” The kids quiet down and nod profusely, and Dejun says. “Good! You guys need to promise me you’ll drink at least three cups of water at every meal, okay? Like I said, we’re closer to the sun up here, so it’s way easier to get dehydrated at camp, and trust me, nobody wants to be dehydrated, it sucks. So promise?” He holds up a pinky.

“Promise!” The kids say in unison, holding up their own pinkies. Dejun smiles. 

“Thank you so much, Adventure Camp! Is that all you guys needed to know?” 

“Actually,” Jaemin intercedes, holding up his hand and stepping forward. “I have a _super_ important question!” 

“Oh, really? Come tell me!” Dejun says, beckoning Jaemin up. He ascends the stairs and watches as Hyorin gathers the kids again, turning back to Dejun.

“Hey Dejun! How’s it going?”

“Good!” He says, grinning as he puts the sunscreen back on the railing. “We haven’t had any kids refuse to promise to drink water, so it’s a win in my book.”

Jaemin snorts. “It sure is. My week Buccaneer camp tried to rebel and I had to get Johnny to intervene and get them to promise.”

Dejun rolls his eyes and leans against the railing, crossing his arms. “Some kids,” he says, shaking his head. “So how has your summer been?” Their conversation devolves into small talk, Jaemin regaling Dejun with stories of Alex and some of the things that happened Week Two when he wasn’t hanging out with Buccaneer camp.

Dejun has always struck Jaemin as someone with honest kindness, a person who never judges. His smile is always kind and genuine, and that’s more than Jaemin can even say for himself. As they talk, Jaemin feels himself relax, and that’s when he lets it slip out, and Dejun’s face goes pale in shock. He scrambles to his feet, taking his weight off the railing as he stands, surprised. 

“You haven’t told them?” He says, gaping. He looks around and says hurriedly, hushed, “Not even —” 

“No,” Jaemin says, and despite Dejun’s reaction, it feels like a weight has been lifted off his chest, the truth finally spilling from his lips. Dejun exhales slowly as he stares at Jaemin, at a loss for words. 

“You have to tell them,” He says finally, after a pause. “You can’t just leave them in the dark about all of this, especially not…” Dejun trails off. “Well. You know.”

“I will,” Jaemin says, and the weight is back. His heart is heavy, his bones feel as though they’re made of lead. He’s known that he needs to tell his friends, but hearing the words from Dejun’s lips makes it real, much too real. “I just…I don’t wantto ruin the summer.”

Dejun’s lips twist in sympathy, understanding. “Yeah, I get it. I won’t tell,” He says, reaching out as though to reassure Jaemin. 

“I know,” Jaemin says, smiling. 

“But seriously, Jaemin,” Dejun says, eyes imploring. “If you need someone to talk to or hang out with who knows the truth, I’m always here.” He glances past Jaemin to the bottom of the stairs. “Oh, they’re about to start, look alive.” 

The campers chant some generic thank you rhyme, and as Jaemin turns to leave, Dejun grabs his sleeve. Jaemin turns back, and Dejun smiles at him comfortingly. 

“This too shall pass, Jaemin,” Dejun says, illuminated by the light from the Redwood Center. “You’ll make it through.”

Jaemin returns to his camp, waving goodbye to Dejun, his throat closing. He clears it, and paints a smile on his face as he turns back to the kids. “Alright everyone! It’s time for dinner!”

»»——⍟——««

Jaemin’s been Jellyfish Jaemin for two summers, but it’s pretty safe to say that this is one of the worst situations he’s been in with Adventure Camp ever, and that’s saying a lot after the Orange Peel Incident of 2018. 

See, Jaemin’s first mistake had been thinking that it would be a simple bathroom run. After all, the kid in question, Minjun, was sweet, and had never caused any problems before. So when he gently tugged Jaemin’s sleeve while they were playing a game and whispered, “Jellyfish Jaemin, I have to go potty,” Jaemin was only too happy to walk the kid to the bathroom, leaving the group temporarily under Hyorin’s jurisdiction, with Sana, Jisung, and Chenle all to back her up. 

The nearest bathrooms, the ones by the pool, had shorter stalls, and while there was no way in hell an Adventure camper could look over the top, Jaemin certainly wouldn’t struggle to, meaning it was perfect, since Adventure campers were really always supposed to be in some counselor’s line of sight in case of emergency. 

When Minjun wanted to use the one stall with a broken lock, Jaemin was skeptical, but Minjun asked really nicely if he could hold the door for him, and heck, it was only going to be two minutes and this was Jaemin’s _job_ , so who was he to say no? 

The first inklings of danger came when Minjun’s tiny little fists appeared in Jaemin’s line of sight, and he was tugging on something. 

“Uhhh. Meerkat Minjun… whatcha doin’ there, bud?” Jaemin’s voice was mildly concerned, ready to throw this stall open if need be. Minjun’s cheerful response came only moments later. 

“Takin’ my clothes off! I need them off so they don’t get dirty.” His voice is serious, and Jaemin’s heard of too many weird kid habits to really react to Minjun’s quirk. After all, he’s seen and heard of weirder. 

“Well, alright, but hurry up, okay?” Jaemin’s characteristic smile never left his face, but at that point, he’d been hosting a few personal concerns. If this kid needs to take off all his clothes when he poops, how messy is this about to get? After all, kid’s quirks are sometimes taught, and Jaemin’s a little afraid that this one might have been of the learned variety.

That had been fifteen minutes ago. 

Now Jaemin has been leaning on this toilet stall door for an entire fifteen minutes, looking at his watch in disbelief as the second hand marches on and the minute hand moves once more, making it a full _sixteen_ _minutes_. His arm is aching from holding the door shut and Jaemin’s starting to get worried that the camp’s activity will be over before he and Minjun make it back. To make things worse, he doesn’t have his schedule on hand, so who knows where they'll be going next. 

“Hey, Meerkat Minjun?” Jaemin calls over the stall, his eyes never leaving his watch, careful to keep the cheeriness in his voice. “How are you doing?”

Minjun’s voice is just as cheerful as before. “I’m about halfway done!”

Jaemin feels his heart sink and a headache begin to come on. “Okay, bud. Try to hurry it up if you can, ‘kay?” Even as he says it and Minjun responds affirmatively, Jaemin fosters little hope. 

After what feels like forever (Jaemin has started counting the lines on the shower curtain across from him, the watch no longer an interesting source of entertainment), Minjun’s voice reaches Jaemin’s ears once again. 

“I’m done!”

“Oh thank god,” Jaemin mutters, and begins to open the door. He’s stopped in his tracks by Minjun’s shrieks of terror, and he slams the door back closed. 

_What’s going on now?_

_“I HAVE TO PUT MY CLOTHES BACK ON!”_

(As if the whole ordeal hadn’t been enough of a headache, Jaemin finds out later from an extremely disgruntled Yangyang that Minjun had legitimately clogged the toilet entirely, rendering it useless and giving Yangyang an unpleasant afternoon of plumbing work since the lifeguards also have to maintain the pool grounds. Jaemin struggles to summon sympathy for Yangyang, because at least he’d had the ability to gripe about it to himself while doing it. Jaemin had held a door for upwards of thirty minutes and dealt with a camper while doing so, so who _really_ lost?) 

»»——⍟——««

At the Tuesday morning counselor’s meeting, Chenle raises his hand and asks, “So, what’s Starfruit?” Jisung looks equally confused as he nods along, his nose scrunching in confusion. 

It’s a fair question. After all, there’s an hour blocked out for it on the schedule in the afternoon. Jaemin swaps wicked grins with Sana and Hyorin.“Don’t worry about it,” He says. “You’ll find out!” 

Hyorin takes a sip of her coffee. “Seriously don’t worry,” she says to Chenle, who now looks mildly concerned. “They didn’t tell me during Week One. It’s an Adventure Camp rite of passage, apparently.”

“That’s right!” Jaemin says, grinning, waving their concerns away with one hand, the other gripping his coffee. “I’ll take care of everything for Starfruit. You guys get to just enjoy the show!”

Later in the afternoon, Jaemin leads Adventure Camp across the bridge that spans the creek. When he stops on the other side, he holds out his hand to stop the kids as well, leaving them all still on the bridge, able to look out into the creek. “Oh my gosh!” Jaemin says, opening his eyes wide in falsified shock. “Adventure Camp! Look!”

He points to the creek, and the kids rush to the railing, gasping at the sight that meets their eyes. Floating in the main part of the creek is an inflatable alligator, and lying on the rocks, his eyes closed, is Mark, dressed in a jungle guide costume. A large circular object wrapped in foil is placed on the rocks by his head. 

“Look, it’s a jungle guide!” Jaemin says, gasping for dramatic effect. “He must have been hit on the head by that silvery-thing, and now the alligator is going to try and eat him!”

“We have to save him!” Gazelle Gahyun says, stepping away from the railing, her eyes wide and imploring. “Jellyfish Jaemin, don’t let the alligator get him!”

“Don’t worry, Gazelle Gahyun,” Jaemin says, squatting down to look sincerely into her eyes in reassurance. “I’ll save him!” 

The kids cheer as Jaemin straightens and dashes off the bridge, scrambling down the bank of the creek until he reaches the rocky creek bed that fall off into the deep pool that the alligator is floating in. From there, he looks up at the kids, their tiny heads peeking over the bridge’s railing, and he’s amused to see Jisung and Chenle’s heads above them, both of them looking as intrigued as the kids do. 

“You guys can see better than me,” Jaemin says, craning his neck and calling up to them. “Do you think I can jump on the alligator from here, or do I have to swim out and wrestle it?”

“Jump on it! Jump on it!” Jaemin grins at the encouragement, and jumps.

He hits the inflatable but he slides off into the freezing cold water. As he breaks the surface he grapples for the plastic alligator’s handles and he manages to flip it over. He can vaguely hear the kids cheering from on top of the bridge, and he wastes no time, swimming directly over to Mark and pulling himself out of the water, settling on the rocks beside him, leaning over him in concern. 

“Three seconds to wake up before my icy creek water hands are on your neck checking for a pulse,” Jaemin mutters, grinning. Mark’s eyes shoot open and Jaemin sits back, waving to the campers on the bridge.

“He’s alive!”

The statement is met with cheers as Mark sits up, rubbing his head confusedly. Jaemin “helps” him stand and climb up the bank of the creek back to the Craft Shack area, bringing along the foil-wrapped mystery object. The campers, lead by the counselors, retrace their steps across the bridge to return to the Craft Shack and join Jaemin, Mark, and the newly arrived Renjun, who is sitting at the picnic benches with some crucial supplies. 

“Thank you so much for saving me, Adventure Camp!” Mark exclaims as the kids gather up around them, eyes wide as they study Mark in his khaki pants and vest to match, complete with a pith helmet. _He looks a little bit like a knockoff Milo from Atlantis mixed with an off-brand Indiana Jones,_ Jaemin notes, amused. “I thought I was toast after I saw that alligator! And then to be knocked unconscious like that!” Mark shakes his head. “I thought I was a goner for sure.”

“Mister Jungle Guide, we have a question for you!” Jaemin says, interrupting before any kids can blurt out questions for their guest.

“Ah,” Mark adjusts his glasses, clearing his throat. He looks up at Jaemin. “Yes?”

“What strange object is this that put you in so much danger?” Jaemin asks, holding out the foil wrapped object. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it!”

“Why, that’s a wonderful question, Jellyfish Jaemin,” Mark says, nodding and stroking his chin like he’s thinking very hard. “Luckily, I am a very experienced jungle guide. I’ve been to all the jungles all over the world, you know.”

“Of course, of course,” Jaemin says, playing along. “So you know what it is?”

“I believe I do, Jellyfish Jaemin,” Mark says. He drops his arms, shaking one finger and saying with extreme conviction, “It’s a Starfruit!”

“A Starfruit!” Jaemin gasps, but the kids only look confused. 

“What’s a Starfruit?” Emu Eunchae asks, scrunching up her face in confusion. 

It’s Mark’s turn to gasp, a scandalized look on his face. “You’ve never heard of Starfruit?” He says, putting a hand over his heart in shock. “This is horrible! Terrible! Not knowing Starfruit? You poor children!” He pretends to swoon, and the kids begin to giggle.

“Starfruit is very, very rare,” Mark says to the kids. Every eye is fixed upon him in curiosity as he continues, saying, “They come from space, and every time one falls down, the people who find it get to eat the Starfruit! But since Starfruit is so rare, that kind of opportunity only comes around once or twice in a lifetime!” 

Renjun, who had been sitting at the picnic tables quietly until now, stood up and joined Mark. “I heard rumors that there was a Starfruit in the creek, but I didn’t know that it was true!” He says. “Luckily, I brought supplies for eating Starfruit, so come on over here to the picnic tables and line up! Our new friend the jungle guide will prepare the Starfruit!”

A minute later and the kids are forming an orderly line as Mark peels away the foil wrapping to reveal the watermelon inside. It’s been chilled in the freezer before being wrapped in foil and left to float in the creek for a few minutes, meaning it’s extra fresh. He slices it up and Renjun helps Jaemin distribute it to the kids. 

Before long, everyone is happily snacking on crisp, cold watermelon, and they crowd around Mark, asking him a thousand questions that he tries to answer, a small smile on his face. Even though Jaemin’s clothes are sticking to his skin, his hair is plastered to his forehead and dripping periodically into his eyes, and his socks are soaked through, he can’t stop himself from dragging out the length of the activity, not wanting to cut the fun short. 

Instead he basks in the late afternoon sunlight, indulging in the sweet taste of watermelon on his tongue and the wonderful sound of children’s laughter in his ears. 

»»——⍟——««

The following afternoon, Jaemin begins slowly and surely losing his mind. 

Adventure Camp is meant to have a night game — admittedly, it’s not really _night_ when it’s supposed to happen, but right after dinner is close enough — and nothing has been set up. Jaemin could have sworn that Sicheng had known about the plans, but apparently, he was wrong.

“There’s no Adventure Camp night game on the schedule I was given,” Sicheng says, bewildered, when Jaemin catches him at free time and asks how the preparations are coming along. “In fact, since Buccaneer is having a massive game tonight after dark, I’ve got everyone working on the setup for that right now.”

“Well, is there anything you can do?” Jaemin asks helplessly, at a total loss. Sicheng bites his lip, thinking. 

“I can get you access to the props yurt, and I can probably spare someone? I’m really sorry, but I don’t know if I can spare more than one — the Buccaneer game just has way too many moving parts,” Sicheng says, looking genuinely apologetic. 

“It’s alright,” Jaemin says, smiling reassuringly as he screams on the inside, his mental stability disintegrating on the spot in horror. “I’ll figure it out!”

It becomes increasingly clear that he will _not_ figure it out. Jaemin is just one person, and he’s running against the clock, impeded by the sheer size of the task set before him. He can’t pull in any of his counselors in to help, all of them spread out watching different free time groups, and he doesn’t really want to disrupt Sicheng’s system, even if he said he could try and spare someone to help. 

All of that in mind, he sets about assembling the night game by himself, rushing the props from the yurt by the office all around campus. He can’t even use the golf-cart — it’s being used to set up the game on the hill, driving up and down with supplies. 

The whistle blows for dinner, but Jaemin barely hears it, too absorbed in his task. Slowly the campus empties, everyone going to dinner, and Jaemin is alone as he rushes back and forth across campus, trying to remember all the ins and outs of the game, leaving no elements out. 

Regardless of his efforts, it’s woefully incomplete, and just when he thinks he might be able to pull off a miracle, he remembers that there’s supposed to be gold coins hidden around each station, and he hasn’t even remembered to take them out. 

He rushes back to the props closet and finds to his horror that most of the gold coins are gone, most likely to be used for Buccaneer’s game, and the few that are left are scattered on the ground, fallen underneath the hanging costumes so that Jaemin has to painstakingly search for each one. He sits back after finding the tenth one, checking his watch, and he knows he’s screwed. It’s been nearly fifteen minutes, and dinner will be ending soon. 

He rubs his face in his hands, groaning, the exhaustion of running back and forth across campus setting in alongside the normal camp tiredness, and suddenly he has very little will to do anything but lie down on the floor of the yurt and accept defeat. So he does exactly that, letting his back hit the floor and his eyes fall shut, enjoying the blissful quiet.

“Jaemin?”

His eyes shoot open and he hastily sits up, feeling bad for worrying the newcomer, who probably just needed something for the Buccaneer game last minute. “I’m fine!” Jaemin says, smiling before he can even see who it is. “Just trying to — Jeno?”

Sure enough, it’s Jeno who stands in the doorway, surveying the scene before him. 

“I thought you were at dinner,” Jaemin says, flustered. 

“I was,” Jeno says, frowning. “But Yangyang told me you weren’t coming. He said you were running all over the place looking stressed, and I don’t want that, obviously, so I brought you some food.” Jaemin finally notices the steaming plate of rice, vegetables, and teriyaki chicken in Jeno’s hands, and Jeno offers it to him with a smile. 

“You have to eat, Jaemin,” Jeno says, almost scolding as he hands over the plate, sticking a fork into the mountain of rice. He settles beside Jaemin on the ground, nudging him with his shoulder as Jaemin takes the first bite. “What’s going on that’s got you so stressed?” He asks, stealing a piece of chicken from Jaemin’s plate. Jaemin slaps his arm playfully. 

“That’s my chicken, you thief!” Jeno just shrugs, his mouth full of Jaemin’s chicken, and Jaemin slaps his arm again, harder this time. Jeno puts his hands up in defeat and then gestures for Jaemin to continue. He sighs, turning back to the plate stabbing a piece of broccoli with his fork as the smile slides off his face, saying, “The Adventure Camp night game isn’t set up at all. Sicheng never got the plans, and now there’s way too much to do in too little time, especially with Buccaneer having a night game later tonight too.”

“Let me guess,” Jeno says, fondly exasperated. “You told Sicheng not to worry, that you’d deal with it? Figure it out, or something?” Jaemin doesn’t answer, aggressively taking another bite of his rice and glaring at Jeno, who only laughs. “So that’s a yes?” 

He scoots close enough to put an arm around Jaemin’s shoulders. “Jaem, you have to stop doing that. It’s Sicheng’s job as buddy coordinator to find people to help you, and he probably would have found a way to send more people down if you had been more honest about how much help you needed, instead of dismissing it and saying that you’d find a way.” He squeezes Jaemin’s shoulders comfortingly. “You don’t have to do it all, Jaem. Camp’s got a specially designed support system. You know that, right?”

“Yeah,” Jaemin says quietly, eyes fixed on his food as he moves it around with his fork. “I know.” 

“Good,” Jeno says, pushing himself up to stand. “So what do you need?”

“What?” Jaemin looks up from his food, shocked. 

“For the night game,” Jeno says patiently. “What do you need?”

“I, well, uh,” Jaemin’s running through a checklist a mile long in his head. He takes a deep breath and says,“I need four people to help run stations, and all of them have to be dressed as jungle guides. I also need help finishing setting up the stations, because I pretty much just dumped the necessary supplies in the general area of the station without actually putting it together. I also need plastic doubloons at each station or some kind of equivalent, but I forgot that Buccaneer uses them too since we’re not usually at the same week, so I don’t know what to do about that. Plus I need to print out like, forty of the little booklets we give the kids to keep track of the things that they find on the guided treasure hunt, and to show them the routes to take. And then to top it all off, we need there to be a final station where the kids use their treasure to buy s’mores supplies, and if Sicheng didn’t know about the night game, I doubt the kitchen does,” Jaemin says, all in one breath, as fast as possible.

Jeno looks a little bit intimidated, but he just nods, resolute. “Okay then,” He says. “Let’s get started.”

Jaemin grins, finishing up his food, and follows Jeno out of the yurt. Jeno goes back to the dining hall and convinces all of the Coordinators who are with the adults, who obviously don’t need supervision, to help, and before long, Jaemin and Jeno are accompanied by Doyoung, Jaehyun, Taeil, Johnny, and even Ten, who while not a Coordinator, is a Teacher Naturalist, so he doesn’t have any other responsibilities. Renjun, Mark, and Yangyang, all on resource, leave dinner early to help before they’re needed back setting up Buccaneer. They even rope Taeyong in, who agrees to help with a smile, and before long, the game is set up with half an hour to spare, the Coordinators agreeing to help Sicheng finish up with Buccaneer so that Jeno, Renjun, Mark, and Yangyang can play the willing parts of jungle guides at each station.

The game goes off without a hitch, and the makeshift jungle guides join them for some well earned s’mores just as the sun begins to set. Jaemin sits, looking across the fire where the flames obscure Jeno’s face, eyes shining in the flickering light as the kids enjoy their hard-earned marshmallow-y treats.

Those same eyes dart up, meeting his, and Jaemin just smiles, mouthing, _Thank you._

Jeno smiles back, eyes curving into crescents. _Anytime._

»»——⍟——««

The next night as the sun is setting orange and pink over the horizon and the kids have all been released to their parents for the night, most of the staff gather in the common area for a game of mafia in the name of team bonding. Johnny’s running the round, already hovering when Jaemin flops down onto one of the couches beside Dejun, the rest of his friends nowhere to be seen. 

“Hey Jaemin!” Dejun says, grinning as he scoots into the very corner of the couch to make space for him. “How are you?”

The question is innocent enough, but after their talk Sunday night, it takes on a whole new meaning. “I’m alright, Dejun. Really,” Jaemin says, smiling softly. “Thanks for asking.” 

The others start to gather around, and eventually all the staff is seated in a messy circle, some on the couches and others on the ground. Chenle is squished against Jaemin’s other side, and Jisung barely manages to squeeze in the tiny space between Chenle and the other side of what’s really meant to be a two person couch. 

“Alright, listen up everyone!” Johnny says, voice booming, and the chatter dies away, eyes turning to focus on him. “We, the summer staff here at camp, have come to enjoy another summer of fun, but little do we know that some of the people we work alongside every single day are members of a deeply evil secret society!”

Gasps resonate through the circle. “Oh my god, I knew y’all couldn’t be trusted,” Guanheng says quietly under his breath from his place beside Lucas. His voice seems loud in the silence and elicits a few giggles from around the circle. 

Johnny continues his dramatics, paying no mind as he says, “Now everyone — close your eyes.” 

Jaemin obliges, Johnny’s voice becoming disembodied as he walks around the circle. “Now, I will select the mafia. If I tap your head now, you are the mafia.” Jaemin waits as Johnny walks around the circle, and suddenly, he feels a tap on his head. A few moments later, and he hears, “Mafia, open your eyes and choose someone to kill.” 

He opens his eyes and immediately across the circle, he meets eyes with Taeil, who grins. Jaemin grins back and scans the rest of the circle, seeing that Jaehyun, Yangyang and Ten are also awake. They share smiles with one another before Jaehyun points to Mark, who is sitting on the ground below him. Jaemin, always eager to play around with Mark, stifles a laugh as he joins the others and points to Mark, sharing a smirk with Yangyang. 

“Thank you mafia. Close your eyes. Now, I’ll pick the doctors.” There’s an uncomfortably long pause, and Jaemin takes the opportunity to shift a bit in his seat, throwing a leg across Jisung’s lap to relieve some of the cramping from being so closely pressed together. “Doctors, pick someone to save. Remember that you can’t save a person twice in a row.” Johnny pauses. “Alright. Goodnight.”

They carry on in a similar fashion as Johnny picks the police and gives them the opportunity to know whether a person is a mafia or a villager. “Thumbs up, they’re a villager, thumbs down, they’re the mafia. Two thumbs up, and they’re a doctor.” Jaemin feels mildly nervous — Johnny sounds like he’s practically standing right over Jaemin, and it would be tragic if he got caught out now, so early on in the game.

“Good morning everyone!” Johnny says, and Jaemin blinks his eyes open. Johnny stands in the center of the circle, fingers steepled dramatically as he turns to look at each of them. “Yesterday, a brave soul among us went to go take part in the setup for Starfruit,” Johnny says, and immediately Mark sits back, defeat in his eyes.

“I’m so dead,” He says, deadpan. “I feel it in my bones, you all killed me.”

“So our good man suited up as a jungle guide and descended into the creek. He lay on the rocks, ready to play his part, when the members of the secret society saw a _ripe_ opportunity.”

“You’re not funny, Johnny,” Mark says, even as Donghyuck bursts into laughter beside him on the ground. 

“So they wrapped up a small boulder in foil instead of a watermelon, and from the creekside, they dropped it on Mark’s head, cracking his head open like the fruit he so loved on the rocks.” Johnny pauses and pretends to pray, nodding his head solemnly. “Rest in Peace, Mark Lee. He proved his dedication for watermelon even in death.”

“I fucking knew it,” Mark says, utterly defeated, as the whole circle cracks up. 

“Anyway,” Johnny says, quieting them down. “Do you think that there’s anyone who you suspect of being Mark’s killers? Speak up now, and they’ll go on trial before you all.”

“Yangyang,” Guanheng says immediately.

“What!” Yangyang, who had been lounging on Kun’s shoulder, sits straight up in surprise. “Why?”

“No reason, I’m guessing,” Guanheng says, shrugging. “But we don’t really have any evidence as of yet, so why not you?”

“You can’t just accuse someone with no proof!” Yangyang says, flustered.

“Do we have a second?” Johnny asks, raising his eyebrows around the circle, Yangyang following up with a glare, his arms crossed.

“Second,” Dejun says, amused, and Yangyang gapes. 

“Dejun, I trusted you,” he says, shaking his head. Dejun shrugs.

“Sorry, it’s too funny not to second you after the scene you made.”

Yangyang pouts, shrinking back into the couch, Kun patting him reassuringly on the shoulder. “Any other accusations?” Johnny asks.

“Can ghosts who haven’t seen anything yet accuse?” Mark asks, raising his hand.

“No,” Johnny says.

“But —”

“Is that the wind?” Johnny says, holding a hand to his ear. “It couldn’t possibly be Mark, he’s dead.”

“You’re so mean,” Mark says, pouting as the rest of the circle collapses into laughter. 

“Alright, alright, final chance for accusations?” Johnny looks around the circle but nobody says anything. “Okay then!” Johnny says. “We’ll go by majority rule, so Yangyang needs to get…” He counts around the circle quickly. “Thirteen votes to be killed off.” 

Much to Guanheng’s disappointment, Yangyang only gets three votes. It’s way too early to be killing people off with no proof, and so the next round begins. 

When Jaemin opens his eyes at Johnny’s command, Mark gapes at him in betrayal, shaking his head in disappointment. Jaemin just shrugs, grinning, and Mark rolls his eyes as Jaemin focuses back on the game. Taeil is already anxiously pointing to Doyoung, and Jaemin can understand why — Doyoung’s smart. Really smart. That makes him dangerous, so Jaemin nods in agreement, following Taeil’s lead. The others follow suit and vote for Doyoung, and Johnny acknowledges it, telling them to go back to sleep. In the morning, Johnny wakes them up and immediately turns to Doyoung. 

“You’re dead,” he says, and Doyoung frowns.

“I don’t get a cool story?” He asks, glaring at Johnny, who just shrugs, not giving any response. Doyoung huffs, leaning back on the couch and crossing his arms in annoyance. “Fine, then. I was a member of the police force, by the way.”

Groans resonate throughout the circle and Doyoung just shrugs. “Doctors should’ve worked harder and saved me,” he says, nonchalant, eyes flashing, and gosh, Jaemin can understand where Donghyuck is coming from when he says that Doyoung is scary. “It’s fine though,” He says, moving off the couch to sit on the ground beside Mark. “I like watching more anyway.”

“So, good citizens of the town,” Johnny says imperiously, surveying them all. “Do you have any accusations to make?”

“I’m gonna accuse Guanheng!” Yangyang says, raising his hand. “He was awfully quick to accuse me last round for nothing. I don’t trust him.” He narrows his eyes across the circle at Guanheng, and Jaemin struggles to keep a straight face at Yangyang’s overdramatic acting.

“Do we have a second?” Johnny looks around the circle and Jaemin sticks his hand up, grinning. The circle dissolves into chatter as Guanheng shakes his head, rolling his eyes. Johnny calls the circle back to order, calling, “Any opposing accusations?”

“I accuse Jaehyun!” Renjun says suddenly. He narrows his eyes, suspicious. “He’s been too quiet.” 

“I literally didn’t do anything,” Jaehyun says, frowning.

“Exactly,” Renjun counters, eyes narrowing further. “It’s suspicious.”

Johnny barely has to ask for a second when Kun is raising his hand decisively. “Alright, that’s a second!” Johnny says cheerfully, likely glad that he’s actually able to host a trial this time around. “Guanheng, stand and make your defense.”

Guanheng sighs and stands, brushing off his pants as he clears his throat. “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,” He says, gesturing around to them all. “I beg of you to see reason. I am but a humble summer staffer, I have done no wrong. I would never kill Doyoung, he was a fine man and he shall be missed.” Guanheng swoons, bringing a hand to his forehead as he plays up the dramatics to the extreme. “Do not kill me, comrades. I am a friend, not a foe.” Glaring Yangyang’s way, he says, “Yangyang just likes to talk shit.”

Yangyang collapses into laughter at the accusation, and Yuta snickers into his hand and calls out, “He made a good point though — you _were_ awfully quick to accuse him.”

Guanheng gapes and opens his mouth to retaliate, but Johnny cuts him off, gesturing for him to sit down, and Jaehyun to stand up. “Jaehyun, make your defense.”

“I… was literally just sitting here.” Jaehyun says. There’s a long silence and then he sits. 

Jaemin hears Dejun snicker under his breath from beside him. “Well, thank you Jaehyun,” Johnny says, bringing his hands together. “Now, all in favor of killing Guanheng, raise your hands.” Well over half the circle raise their hands and Johnny doesn’t even bother to count as he spins to face Guanheng. “Sorry, you’re dead Guanheng. Any parting words?”

“You fools. I was a citizen,” Guanheng says, falling back onto the couch. Lucas, sitting beside him, pats his arm in apology, and they move on to the next round. 

“Mafia, wake up.” Jaemin meets Yangyang’s eyes and tilts his head to Dejun beside him before turning to look at the others. Ten grins and nods dramatically, flashing a thumbs up, and the others follow his lead. Jaemin lets his eyes fall shut again, and after the doctors have gone, he hears Johnny ask the police to wake up and choose someone to suspect.

“Police, agree on one person,” Johnny says. Another long moment passes and finally he says, “Okay. Thumbs down they’re a bad guy, thumbs up they’re a citizen, two thumbs up, they’re a doctor.”

When they wake up and after Johnny has told Dejun that he died by falling from one of the high ropes elements on the challenge course, Renjun is the first to speak. “I have some information to share,” he says, and Jaemin sits straight up. Now things are getting interesting. 

“I’m the police,” Renjun says, “and Yangyang and Jaehyun are part of the Mafia.”

“Well, how are we supposed to know if you’re telling the truth?” Jaemin asks, narrowing his eyes. 

“The other police can’t give up his identity to corroborate me, I know,” Renjun says, grimacing. “Especially since I’ll most certainly die either tonight or tomorrow, and we need him alive. But Donghyuck,” Renjun turns to him. “You’re a doctor.” Donghyuck blinks, surprised, and Renjun just continues. “Now not only does the other police know that I’m telling the truth, but the doctors do too, as well as the mafia. If the villagers are smart, they’ll nominate Jaehyun and Yangyang and tie the vote. When go to another vote to decide whether they both live or both die, we’ll kill them off and that way, we’ll get two of the mafia in one fell swoop.” Renjun shrugs. “Between the police and the doctors, as well as the other mafia, who realize there’s really no way out of this, we have the majority, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

_Damn, he’s really got it all figured out,_ Jaemin thinks. _I should’ve known that Renjun would be the one to catch us out._

“Ah, I was a doctor,” Dejun pipes up. “I just realized I forgot to say.”

“Oh,” Renjun seems a little bit thrown off by the numbers, realizing that he no longer has the majority, and so he’ll lose the mafia’s votes as well. “Still, we can take them down if the villagers all participate.”

“So are we ready to nominate?” Johnny asks. 

“I nominate Jaehyun and Yangyang,” Renjun says confidently. 

“I’m gonna need seconds for both of them,” Johnny says. 

“I second Yangyang!” Chenle says brightly bouncing up and down on the sofa. Jisung, beside him, smiles softly at Chenle. 

From across the circle, Yuta raises his hand. “I second Jaehyun,” He says, smiling with a wicked grin, and Johnny nods. 

“That’s seconds for both of them. Are you all ready to vote?”

“Yeah!” Renjun says. “Remember to tie it, everybody! If you don’t, we’ll know you’re the mafia, and you’ll be next!”

“What, do we not get a defense?” Yangyang asks, looking a bit overwhelmed by how quickly the circle had turned against he and Jaehyun. 

“Nope, you don’t need one, we’ll still kill you,” Renjun says, waving away the words with one hand. Yangyang pouts and Renjun grins as they split the vote evenly, Taeil, Ten, and Jaemin reluctantly participating as their numbers are very nearly cut in half. When Johnny holds the second vote, it’s no question — Both Jaehyun and Yangyang are killed by the council, and both of them reveal themselves to be members of the mafia to the cheers of the crowd. 

The mood that night is cheerful as Johnny orders them all to bed, the citizens exhilarated at killing off two members of the mafia in one go, and as Jaemin opens his eyes, both Taeil and Ten are set on revenge, both pointing to Renjun. Jaemin shakes his head, making an X with his arms, and points over to Donghyuck instead. 

For a moment, Ten and Taeil resist, and Johnny says, “Mafia, come to an agreement.” But to Jaemin’s relief, understanding dawns in Ten’s eyes and he switches to Donghyuck, tapping his temple with his free hand as he does so. Taeil follows their lead, even if he's confused why, and they go to sleep after Johnny acknowledges their choice with a thumbs up.

The moment they all open their eyes, Renjun says, deadpan, “It was lovely knowing you all.” Jaemin manages to hold back his diabolical laughter, but it’s a very near thing, especially when he meets Ten's eyes across the circle and they reflect his own mirth. 

“Renjun was walking down Nazarian past the pool with some of his friends,” Johnny begins, wiping away a fake tear. “When they reached the office, he took the golf cart and went up the hill for some supplies, saying goodbye to them all, wishing them well.But when he came back down the hill —” Johnny pauses for dramatic effect. “He saw Donghyuck, floating in the pool, drowned!” 

Silence falls over the staffers that are still alive. “What?” Jeno, who has been extremely quiet up until now, exclaims, surprise painted across his face. 

“Ah, that was clever,” Renjun murmurs. “Very clever.”

“Why did I die?” Donghyuck asks, eyes wide with surprise as he looks around the circle. “We saved Renjun, we thought for sure that he’d be killed.”

“Exactly,” Renjun says. “The mafia knew you would save me this round, so they didn’t bother trying,” Renjun explains. “And now, the doctors can’t save me tonight, so they’ll be able to kill me without worrying about me being saved at the last moment.”

“Damn,” Jeno says, sitting back. “The mafia really thought that one through. Okay.”

“But then who do we accuse this round?” Jungwoo asks, sitting beside Jeno. “We don’t have any more leads.”

“Oh, Ten,” Renjun says, waving a hand. “Almost forgot to mention that last night we discovered that he’s a part of the mafia too.”

“The police are getting unfairly lucky this round,” Jaemin muses aloud, unthinkingly, and suddenly every eye is on him. He tries to backtrack, holding up his hands in protest. “Wait. No. No, no, I’m not the mafia, oh my god, _wait_ , hear me out!” 

“Too late!” Renjun says, grinning.”I guess we know who we’re killing tomorrow!” Taeil shoots him a look that says, _ You’re a dumbass._ Jaemin sighs deeply and accepts it, only able to watch on in horror as Ten is killed off by an ample majority after being accused by Renjun and seconded by Jeno. 

That night, Jaemin and Taeil kill Renjun with gusto. Jaemin points to Renjun first, switching between a point and a thumbs down, and Taeil follows his lead, shaking his head somberly. Dejun nudges Jaemin and mouths, _So dramatic._ Jaemin just shrugs, grinning, as Johnny tells them to sleep. 

In the morning, Johnny says somberly, “During the big camp game, all of High School camp was running around in the dark. Naturally, they won the day, but one cabin was missing a counselor.” 

“I wonder who it was,” Renjun says sarcastically, and Jungwoo tries his best to disguise his laugh with a cough as Johnny swivels to glare that them.

_“As I was saying,”_ Johnny continues, shooting a pointed look Renjun’s direction, “The staff searched all over the grounds, in trees and the creek, in every little hiding place that they could think of, but Renjun was never found.”

“I was the police! One of the police, anyway,” Renjun says. “Shockingly, I was telling the truth.” 

“All right, citizens!” Johnny says. “It’s accusation time! Go ahead.” He steps to the side, and an awkward silence falls upon the circle before Taeyong shifts in his seat and says,

“So we’re killing Jaemin, right? We did all agree on that?”

“Wow,” Jaemin says as the whole circle bursts into laughter. Even those who are dead and have been trying to stay impartial can’t help but join in. Jaemin shakes his head at them all. “I see how it is.”

The laughter subsides as Kun says, “No, we should kill Taeil.” 

They stare at him, and all that Jaemin can think is _How in god’s name does Kun know that Taeil is the last mafia? I mean, he must be a police officer, but if so that’s some pretty incredible luck right there to catch all the mafia straight in a row..._

But apparently the police really are that lucky, because Kun says, “I’m the other police alongside Renjun, and we know for sure that Taeil is the mafia. Jaemin is just a hunch, we can try killing him next round, and surely then we’d win. After all, surely there aren’t more than five mafia?” They all turn to look at Johnny, but he just shrugs. Kun shakes his head. “There’s no way. So let’s get rid of Taeil first.”

“Okay, but in honor of Renjun’s memory, I’m still accusing Jaemin,” Jeno says, leaning back on his hands and pulling his legs in to sit cross legged in front of the couch. Renjun smiles and gives Jeno a finger heart that, to Jaemin’s disgust, he returns. 

“Second,” Jungwoo says quietly, smiling softly just as Johnny opens his mouth to ask. 

“This is betrayal,” Jaemin says, sticking out his bottom lip and crossing his arms, sinking back into the couch cushions. Dejun reaches out and pats his arm in false sympathy. 

“Well, I accuse Taeil,” Kun says, shrugging, leaning back on the couch and holding up his hands in surrender. “It’s up to all of you whether you believe me or not.” 

“Well, I’ll second it,” Yuta says. “I don’t see any reason for you to lie, unless you’re the mafia. But if you are, we’ll just kill you off next round anyway.”

“So, kill off Taeil?” Kun looks around at the circle. “Wait, who’s still playing?”

Jaemin raises his hand. Jeno, Jisung, Chenle, Taeyong, Jungwoo, Lucas, Taeil, and Sicheng all follow suit. “Wait, Sicheng’s playing?” Jeno asks. “I thought you were just watching.”

“I’m playing,” Sicheng says, frowning. “I just don’t have anything to contribute. Being a normal villager is boring.” Jeno shrugs.

“Fair enough.”

“Guys, focus,” Kun says, rolling his eyes. Jeno turns back around and mimes zipping his lips shut and locking them, throwing away the imaginary key. Kun nods approvingly and says, “So, Taeil?”

When Taeil is voted off, he doesn’t seem surprised in the slightest. “Ah well, I was the mafia,” he says. 

“One left,” Kun says, and he turns his eyes on Jaemin, who shrinks back. 

“Do you want to die?” He asks, raising the pitch of his voice while pouting and folding his arms, doing his best to make his eyes sparkle. Jeno starts snickering, Yangyang, Donghyuck, and Renjun joining in at the sharp contrast between his words and his body language.

“Good night everyone!” Johnny says, and Jaemin kills Kun. There’s still one doctor, but there’s no doubt that Kun will try to find out his identity tonight, so it’s worth it for him to try and kill Kun off anyway, on the off chance that the doctor chooses to save someone else.

Turns out Jaemin is lucky, because in the morning Johnny informs them all that Kun has died in a mysterious golf-cart crash while driving up to the Ridge. 

“What the fuck,” Sicheng says, eyebrows furrowed. “Who the heck is the doctor that they didn’t save Kun? He was obviously going to be the target.” 

“It wasn’t me,” Jungwoo says, shaking his head. Lucas shrugs, shaking his head.

“Me either,” Taeyong says. Jisung just avoids eye contact, and Chenle nods at Taeyong’s statement. 

“I saved Jisung,” Jeno says, suddenly.

“What did you do that for?” Sicheng asks.

“I don’t know! I wasn’t thinking!” Jeno says, pouting. “Don’t attack me! He’s sitting right by Kun, it was an honest mistake.” Jeno’s not lying — where the couch that Jisung's on ends, Kun’s begins. They’re as close as they could get.

“Fine,” Sicheng says. “But _still.”_

“Accusations,” Johnny says. “Come on!” 

“Uh… I accuse Sicheng!” Taeyong says. “He’s been too quiet. Jaehyun tried to get by on the same strategy.”

“I see your point,” Lucas says, nodding seriously. “I second!”

“Oh no, I’ve been caught,” Sicheng deadpans, rolling his eyes, unimpressed. Taeyong nods, eyes wide. 

“See you guys?” he says. “He admits it!”

_Have they forgotten I exist?_ Jaemin wonders. Still, he’s not planning on reminding them, so he stays quiet, sinking as far back into the couch cushions and doing his best to hide behind Dejun’s arm. 

“Any other accusations?” Johnny asks. He meets Jaemin’s eyes for a moment before darting away to look at the others. “Any at all? Going once, going twice…?” When nobody volunteers anything else, he just shrugs. “Okay, then. If Sicheng gets a majority of votes, which would be four in this case, he dies.” Johnny turns to Sicheng. “Any defense?”

“If you guys want to have my blood on your hands, go for it,” Sicheng says. “The game is getting kinda long anyway.”

Sicheng isn't lying. During the rounds, a lot of the spectators have gone back to the cabins for blankets and to change into pajamas. Donghyuck is snuggled inside a hoodie that’s about three sizes too big for him and looks suspiciously like Mark’s, and Renjun has joined Yangyang on the couch, draping a blanket across their laps. 

The sun has truly set by now, the bulbs strung between the staff cabins casting warm light onto the circle, making the already-friendly atmosphere feel cozy. The darkness brings with it a kind of magic, the feeling of friends all gathered together with light and laughter, enjoying one another’s company. 

They come to a vote, and Lucas, Taeyong, and Yuta all vote to kill off Sicheng. Jaemin raises his hand at the last minute, and Taeyong’s eyes flicker over to him, widening. 

“Oh my god, you guys. We forgot about Jaemin.”

Mark, who is coming out of his staff cabin after retrieving his guitar and changing into more comfortable clothes, catches the tail end of Taeyong’s comment. “Y’all have been trying to kill him for like three rounds, are you kidding?” He exclaims, settling back down on the ground beside Donghyuck, who lifts up his blanket for Mark to join him. “Get on with it already.”

“Sicheng, you’ve died,” Johnny says. 

“I was a citizen,” Sicheng says, standing up from the couch. Taeyong sighs. 

“I was an idiot,” he admits, and Sicheng just laughs, heading over to his cabin. 

“It’s fine, I wanted to change anyway. Be back soon!”

That night, Jaemin goes for Jisung. If Jeno wasn’t lying — and he has no reason to — Jisung would have no protection tonight, so it’s worth a shot trying to kill him off. But in the morning, Johnny says, “Nobody died last night.” Jaemin is so caught off guard he makes a stupid mistake, a blunder that will cost him the game — he jumps to his feet and points at Jeno, saying,

“Lee Jeno, you liar!” 

Jeno blinks as everyone turns to him. “Wait, what? What did I do?” 

“I tried to kill Jisung last night but he lived. You said you were the doctor and you saved Jisung but if you saved Jisung last round, then why is Jisung alive? You can’t save people twice in a row!” Jaemin’s words rush from his mouth and the whole circle pauses. Taeyong raises his hand, looking baffled.

“Wait, so you’re the mafia?”

“ _Yes_ , but that’s not the point. Jeno’s lying,” Jaemin says impatiently. He glares at Jeno. “He can’t be trusted.”

“That’s probably the most important point, though?” Taeyong says, but he’s drowned out as the circle dissolves into confused chatter, everyone yelling over each other. Jisung looks the most bemused out of all of them, mouth open like he wants to say something, but it’s too loud for him to get a word in edgewise. 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, everybody calm down,” Jungwoo says, and because it’s Jungwoo, they do, voices dying out as they turn to him. “This shouldn’t even be a debate? Jaemin just admitted he’s the mafia, so why not kill him?” 

“He’s not wrong,” Lucas says, grinning. He shoots his hand up. “Hey, Johnny, I accuse Jaemin!”

“Second,” Jeno says. Johnny opens his mouth to respond when Jaemin interjects.

“Hey, hold on a second,” Jaemin says, frowning. “Why are you trying to bring your own team down?”

“Because I’m not the mafia!” Jeno says, exasperated, holding up his hands.

Jaemin knows he’s not — after all, Jeno doesn’t wake up with him at night, but he was dumb enough to lie about being a doctor when he’s not, so Jaemin’s fine bringing him down with him. “Sure, Jeno,” He says, shaking his head in false disappointment as he sits back down on the couch. “I don’t know why you’re still trying to save yourself at this point. If the citizens were smart, they’d kill you off along with me.”

Jaemin can tell he’s winning when he sees doubt starting to grow in Jisung’s eyes beside Chenle and Yuta turns to look at Jeno distrustingly. 

“Guys, focus. We have to kill off Jaemin, and the game will end. If it doesn’t, then we can just kill off Jeno next round,” Taeyong reasons. “Make sense?”

“Yes,” Jeno says, obviously relieved. “Let’s kill off Jaemin. I _swear_ I’m telling the truth.”

“Okay, so shall we go straight to voting?” Johnny looks around the circle, and after seeing the thumbs up from all around the circle, turns to Jaemin. “Okay, Jaemin. Present your defense.”

“Jeno’s the mafia,” Jaemin says stubbornly. “You’ll all see when the game continues next round. You should have kept me on.”

“Goodbye, Jaemin!” Jeno says, waving, and Jungwoo chuckles, joined by Lucas, who graciously at least tries to disguise his laugh as a cough. Jaemin huffs as he gets a unanimous vote easily, and is killed off. 

“Fine, I was the mafia,” he says, and the citizens that are still alive cheer, happy to have won the game. Jaemin himself is about to head back to the cabin to get ready for bed when Johnny says suddenly,

“Alright everyone, please put your heads down.” The citizens stop suddenly, and Yuta spins to glare at Jeno. 

“You _are_ the mafia!” Jungwoo and Lucas gape, and Chenle and Jisung glare themselves, all clearly shocked at the turn of events.

“I swear I’m not!” Jeno says, shaking his head, frantically. While the citizens are focused on Jeno, Jaemin sees a ripple of shock on the faces of those who are out, and he himself feels confused. There are no mafia, left, so what —

Finally, he looks up at Johnny and catches the twinkle of mischief in his eyes, a barely concealed smile on the corner of his lips, and he’s forced to throw a hand across his mouth so that he doesn’t laugh. Johnny’s playing them. He sees the rest of the circle catch on, and before long, they’re all stifling laughter and avoiding one another’s eyes in a desperate attempt to keep the ruse going. 

They manage it fairly well too, at least until the next morning when after nobody dies, they kill off Jeno and Johnny announces that he’s a citizen.

“What?” Taeyong bursts out. “Then which one of you is lying?” He spins to face Jungwoo, who just looks bewildered. 

“I told you I was innocent,” Jeno says, despondent, and at that, they all lose it, the humor bubbling to the surface, completely unable to contain it. Johnny doubles over, almost crying with laughter as Ten and Jaehyun sob into one another’s shoulders. Even Doyoung is cackling, clutching his stomach and being patted on the back by an amused Mark, Donghyuck clinging to his other arm as he shakes with laughter. The citizens just look confused, eyes darting between their hysterical friends, and finally it dawns on Yuta. 

“Oh my god, the game ended already, didn’t it?” At his words, they all start laughing harder. Through the tears in his eyes and his heaving breaths, Jaemin feels Dejun grab his arm and hears Johnny gasp out,

“Yes, the game ended after you killed Jaemin.” He sees Taeyong fall back on the floor, shaking his head, and finally the game ends.

They stay awake for a long while, unable to sleep after so much laughter. Eventually they quiet down, chatting under the stars, and Mark begins plucking the strings on his guitar absentmindedly, singing quietly under his breath. Jaemin lays his head on Dejun’s shoulder and smiles as he closes his eyes, listening to the music and enjoying the feeling of family, the laughter still echoing in his ears.

This is what it feels like to be at home.

»»——⍟——««

At freetime on Friday, it’s Jaemin’s turn to head to the pool with Adventure Camp, so he grabs his swimsuit from his staff cabin during his break and heads back to meet up with Adventure Camp on the Big Green Field. As he approaches, the kids wave excitedly, thrilled at their group leader’s return. 

After they all split up, the kids coming to the pool rush along by his side, taking two steps for every one of his, chattering over one another and grasping for his hands. They squabble for a moment over who gets the opportunity to hold his hands on the way there, and eventually Gazelle Gahyun and Emu Eunchae win out over Meerkat Minjun, Tortoise Taewoo, and a particularly disgruntled Sunshine Sohyeon. 

Their hands are tiny in Jaemin’s, and he can’t help but smile as they walk along the road to the pool. It’s a beautiful day, the sun shining down hot across camp, perfect for a late afternoon swim. Sunshine Sohyeon skips ahead on the path, dragging Tortoise Taewoo behind her as they go, their childish laughter echoing in Jaemin’s ears as he watches them to make sure they don’t stray too far.

Before long, Jaemin is pushing open the chain link gate to the pool and directing them to put their towels down as Yangyang waves from his spot sitting on the lifeguards chair. The kids clumsily put their towels down and Jaemin walks them to the showers. They rinse off, come back to the pool deck and dry off again as Jaemin helps them put on their sunscreen.

As he rubs sunscreen across Gazelle Gahyun’s back, he takes the opportunity to survey the pool and wave back at Yangyang. He sees Buccaneer camp is here, some older kids splashing around in the deep end accompanied by Hina and Yiyang. He meets Donghyuck’s eyes. He’s sitting on the edge of the pool with just his feet in the water, his rainbow Robin Hood style hat still on his head reading _the HAECHANcellor_ in painstakingly drawn puff paint. Donghyuck grins, and Jaemin grins back before finishing up Gahyun’s sunscreen and moving on to Minjun’s. 

Before long the kids are jumping in the pool, one after another, and Jaemin follows their lead, dipping his toes in the water as Taewoo tugs on his hand, urging him to come in faster. Jaemin just laughs, and soon he’s submerged in the shallow end of the pool. He bends his knees so the kids can hang off his arms while he spins in a circle.

The kids shriek in delight as they spin, clinging to his arms and splashing as they kick with their feet. The water splashes Jaemin in the face, but he barely misses a beat, just lifting himself further out of the water, raising his arms as he does so that the kids yell and laugh, trying their best to hold on until gravity just gets to be too much for them and they let go, splashing back into the pool.

“That was fun!” Sohyeon says as she surfaces. “Again, again!”

Jaemin obliges them, spinning them around and around, lifting them up and down out of the water as he does. Some of the younger Sherwood campers, a few that he had last summer in his group, come over to join them, and so the crowd around Jaemin grows. 

Eventually, they tire of just spinning, and Jaemin is honestly running out of arm space with all of the kids hanging off him, so he shakes them off, leading them to a place where the water is just a little bit deeper.

“So, you guys,” Jaemin says to the kids that are holding on to his arms, his shoulders, even around his neck — wherever they can get a grip. “Here’s the plan: One by one, I’ll go underwater, and you’re gonna hold my hands and stand on my shoulders, okay? Then I’ll push up out of the water so you’ll fly and be able to do a cannonball into the deep end. Does that sound fun?”

There’s a chorus of yeses from all around, and suddenly one of the kids on his arm, a camper that Jaemin had last year, shoots his hand up. “I wanna go first!”

“Sure thing, Chimpanzee Changmin!” Jaemin says jovially, swinging Changmin up as the others groan in annoyance before swimming over to the side of the pool to wait their turn.

“Jellyfish Jaemin, I’m not Chimpanzee Changmin anymore!” He says, laughing. “I’m One CHANGMINute!” 

“Silly,” Jaemin says quietly, smiling softly. “You’ll always be Chimpanzee Changmin to me.” He snaps out of his reverie and grins. “You ready?”

“I was _born_ ready,” Changmin says, eyes narrowed and perfectly serious. Jaemin thinks he sees Donghyuck stifle a laugh from the sidelines out of the corner of his eye. 

“Alright then!” Jaemin says. “Let’s go!” He takes a deep breath and dives under the water, Changmin’s hands clasped in his own. He feels his feet on his shoulder, unsure at first, slipping and sliding in the water before he steps down, strong, and Jaemin takes the opportunity. 

He pushes himself out of the water, launching Changmin as far into the air as he possibly can. Changmin straightens, yelling with delight as he flies through the air and hits the water, splashing water all over Jaemin and the kids, a little too close for comfort. Even Yangyang and Donghyuck get a bit wet, Donghyuck leaning back in surprise and Yangyang flicking a drop of water from his brow with one finger, wide grin on his face. 

Changmin surfaces, grinning ear to ear, and breathes, “That was awesome.”

Jaemin smiles, satisfied, and turns back to the kids on the sidelines. Their eyes are wide with wonder, and he opens his arms, saying, “Who wants to go next?”

The answer is _everybody_. 

For the next thirty minutes or so, Jaemin throws kid after kid through the air to their delight. He’s having fun too, it’s just that after the kids start to go a second and third time, his shoulders get a bit sore, and the regular camp afternoon exhaustion is setting in. Eventually, as free time wears on and is nearing its end, he has no choice but to stop, waving the kids off as they whine and complain, begging for him to just do it one more time. 

“You know, you should be helping me!” Jaemin calls over to Donghyuck, who just picks up his water bottle and takes a sip, looking amused as the kids hang off of Jaemin, nearly dragging him underwater with their weight. 

“Nah, I’m technically on break, they just needed more chaperones!” Donghyuck calls over. “Try again next time!” He points to his water bottle and mouths, _Yerba,_ and Jaemin gets the picture. He’s probably exhausted. Heck, they all are at this point thanks to the long days. 

“Jellyfish Jaemin, Jellyfish Jaemin!” Sunshine Sohyeon tugs on his arm, drawing his attention away from Donghyuck. “You should compete in a diving competition with Mr. Pool Buddy!”

“Yak Yangyang has to watch the pool!” Jaemin says. “So he couldn’t possibly compete! His job is to make sure that everyone stays safe.”

“Well,” Donghyuck picks up his radio, left beside him on the pool deck, and presses the button. “Rabbit Renjun, do you copy?”

One rushed conversation later, and Donghyuck looks up at them all, the kids waiting with bated breath. “Rabbit Renjun has closed up the craft shack for today, so he’s willing to come and lifeguard for about 20 minutes before the pool closes!”

The kids cheer, and Yangyang shrugs, clearly surprised by the turn of events, but already grinning and putting his rescue buoy aside and standing. “You’re going down, Jaemin.”

The Buccaneer kids are starting to get invested now too, cheering Yangyang on as Jaemin shakes his head, faking disappointment.

“You’ll have to try harder than that, Yangyang,” He snipes back, smirking. “You talk a big game, but can you back it up?”

The Adventure Campers cheer, and Renjun arrives just in time, slipping through the gate and taking his place at the other lifeguard’s chair, fully clothed. Yangyang tosses him the rescue buoy across the pool and grins. “Thanks, Jun!”

“You’re welcome,” Renjun says, fondly exasperated. “Can’t believe I’m giving up twenty minutes of my own free time to facilitate a diving competition, but you’re welcome.”

“You love us!” Jaemin calls, grinning as he swims over to the edge of the pool. He pulls himself out of the water, the water dripping from his hair into his face, the sun-warmed concrete almost burning on his feet. He meets Yangyang at the diving board and they shake hands solemnly.

“May the best man win,” Yangyang says seriously, his hand now soaked by Jaemin’s own. 

“You’re going down, Liu,” Jaemin says, grinning, and Yangyang raises an eyebrow. Their hands drop and Yangyang pulls off his shirt, leaving it behind on the pool deck as he walks to the end of the diving board, takes a single jump, and then dives into the pool in one smooth movement. The younger kids cheer and one of the Buccaneer boys whistles loudly in approval. 

Yangyang surfaces by the pool ladder and climbs out, gesturing to Jaemin with an eyebrow cocked, almost like he’s saying, _beat that._

It’s not bad, but Jaemin thinks he can beat it — Yangyang’s feet were pretty far apart, and his feet were almost over his head by the time he hit the water. With that thought in mind, Jaemin closes his eyes dramatically, breathing in deep. He opens his eyes, perfectly focused, and rushes down the length of the diving board, jumping once, and launching himself into the air.

As he curves over in the air, he keeps his hands in front of him and checks to make sure his toes are together, the same way he taught himself years ago when he was just a kid swimming in his grandparent’s pool. 

He hits the water easily, his body sliding into the water as all sound is deafened, and he can’t help but smile to himself. That was perfect.

He surfaces to cheers, his campers grinning from ear to ear and hugging one another excitedly, and he can see Renjun smiling. “Every time I see you dive, Jaemin, I get surprised,” He says, shaking his head. 

Jaemin grins. He’s proud of his dives, he worked hard learning how to do them. “Take that Yangyang!” He hollers, and Yangyang holds up his hands in defeat. 

“Okay, but we already knew that you have an advantage in diving,” He says. “How about a cannonball competition? There’s no way you’ll win that.” At the words, the kids cheer, and Jaemin feels that little flame of competitive spirit flare up inside him, begging to be stoked. Jaemin obliges. 

“You’ll eat your words, Liu Yangyang,” He says, already climbing out of the pool. 

For the rest of free time, they compete to the cheers of their campers, trying to see who can do the best pencil dive, best pose in the air as they jump off the diving board, farthest jump, and eventually, to end the day, the best bellyflop. 

As they leave the pool at the end of free time, ushering the kids back to the Big Green Field where they meet with their parents to go get changed into dry clothes for dinner, Jaemin’s stomach stings a little, but he can’t stop smiling. The kids laughter echoes in his ears, the feeling of a smile on his face is familiar and welcome, and he’s accompanied back to Staff Area by Renjun, Yangyang and Donghyuck, happy chatter bouncing between the four of them as they go.

He hugs Donghyuck goodbye at the door, and even though Donghyuck curses at him for getting him wet as Yangyang and Renjun laugh to the side, Jaemin still can’t help but smile. 

_I’ve got the best friends in the world,_ he thinks to himself, and he knows that it’s the truth. 

»»——⍟——««

Saturday afternoon, all is quiet on campus — the kids went home with their parents right after breakfast, and the staff are free to make their own plans for lunch and dinner before they’re all needed again Sunday afternoon as they prepare for the final week of camp. 

Jaemin takes a look in the mirror and winces. As fun as swimming had been, the chlorine wreaked havoc on his pink hair (if it can even be called pink anymore — it really looks more like a very light kind of orange). Right then and there he decides that he’s dyeing his hair today, because there’s absolutely no way that he’s going to go around looking like this any longer. 

“I need help!” Jaemin bursts into Jeno, Renjun, and Donghyuck’s staff cabin, and Yangyang is already there, lounging across Renjun’s bed. “My hair is gross as hell, and I want to get some dye in town and fix it. Who’s down to help me out?”

“I can’t,” Renjun says, frowning. “My mom wants to call me, and we all know what that means.”

“It’ll be three hours before you’re free,” Jaemin says, understanding. Renjun’s mom is probably the sweetest person on the planet, but it’s a universally accepted fact that she always wants to catch up on every little thing that’s happened, so Renjun usually blocks out three to four hours for her calls. “Don’t worry about it, Jun! I only really need one of you.”

A moment passes and nobody says anything, Donghyuck and Yangyang both turning to Jeno. Jeno starts, looking surprised, and then raises his hand tentatively. “Uh, I can?” He offers.

Jaemin feels his heart contract in his chest, but he ignores it, grinning wider. “Great! Let’s go then.”

Minutes later, they drive out of camp, Jeno behind the wheel of Jaemin’s car, the windows rolled down. Jaemin watches the trees speed by on the winding road, watches as the wind ruffles Jeno’s hair and the greenery melts away as the road straightens into the small town closest to camp. They pull into the parking lot of the one drugstore in the tiny town and Jaemin buys light brown hair dye. 

“It’s time for a change,” He says in response to Jeno’s surprised eyes as they leave the store, the hair dye safely hanging in a plastic bag in Jaemin’s hand. “The pink was fun, but I’m ready to try something new.”

“No, you do whatever you want,” Jeno says, eyes wide. He smiles, unlocking the car. “You just loved the pink hair so much. I was partially convinced that you would never give it up.”

Jaemin’s heart pangs, and he smiles sadly. “We always have to give up the things we love eventually,” he says. He opens the door and gets inside, turning his face to the window so he doesn’t have to see Jeno’s confusion. 

_You have to tell him,_ a little voice that sounds an awful lot like Dejun says in the back of his mind. _He deserves to know._

_I will,_ Jaemin thinks. _Just… not yet._ He looks over and sees Jeno’s smile as he drives, one hand on the wheel, the other leaning on the open window, and he knows he doesn’t want to see the smile vanish. He doesn’t want to have to delete Jeno’s contact from his phone, or hear the harsh words he’ll have for Jaemin when he finds out, so for now he stays silent. 

Jeno’s hands are soothing as he sits on the staff bathroom counter, working the hair dye through Jaemin’s hair, a towel draped over Jaemin’s shoulders. They chat about the past week of camp, muse over the fact that next week it’s all coming to an end once again, and Jaemin lets himself fall into the deep timbre of Jeno’s voice and the feeling of Jeno’s fingers in his hair. 

After the whole process is over, Jaemin’s hair is a lovely brown and Jeno runs his hands through it, exclaiming aloud at its softness, and Jaemin just knows he’s completely, totally screwed. 

_Tell him,_ the voice says, more insistent.

_Not yet,_ Jaemin says, desperately in love as Jeno hugs him and tells him that his hair looks fantastic like this. He closes his eyes, wrapping his arms around Jeno and breathing in the scent of his hoodie, holding on tight. _Not yet._


	5. Week Four

“All of camp, all of camp, all of camp!” Doyoung yells, cupping his hands around his mouth as he stands on the slope of the Big Green Field beside Taeil, yelling out across the massive group of kids gathered there. Most of them are in high school, some in Doyoung’s own camp, Sherwood Forest.

“Cookie DOYOUNG, Cookie DOYOUNG, Cookie DOYOUNG!” Jaemin calls back from his place among his campers, standing on the field. A few stray giggles and ends of conversations are heard and then silence falls, all eyes turning to Doyoung. He grins and adjusts his rainbow hat on his head before saying,

“Alright everyone! Welcome to camp!” The field bursts out in cheers, most of the high school campers returning campers, excited to be at camp, and as Jaemin cheers along with them, he remembers why High School is his second favorite camp to counsel. “I’m Cookie DOYOUNG, and me and my squire, the HAECHANcellor, hang out with this super awesome and cool group of people! We wear felt hats, we blow our rainbow horn, we run around with Robin Hood, and we disguise our names to hide from the Sheriff! We are…” Doyoung pauses and steps forward, gesturing for the kids to scream as he says, “Sherwood Forest!”

The kids don’t disappoint, cheering loudly as Doyoung blows their horn and they jump up and down beside their counselors. Jaemin sees Donghyuck whooping, this week wearing his rainbow hat and standing beside Doyoung, an LC. A bit more searching and he finds Yangyang, jumping up and down with his campers, wearing a green felt hat that Jaemin knows reads _LIUtenant YANGYANG._

Finally the cheers die down and Doyoung steps aside, gesturing to Taeil, who steps forward with a grin. “Hello, all of camp! I’m Taeil, and I get to lead a super cool camp with Jaehyun, Yuta, and the incredible Sicheng!” The LCs for High School Camp wave, and Taeil continues. “We do energizers in the mornings, we go on the challenge course, and we play big games to save camp! We are…. High School Camp!” Taeil shakes his hands as the field explodes into thundering cheers, the campers chanting Taeil’s name. Taeil indulges them for a moment, putting his hand to his ear and gesturing for them to keep it up with his other hand. Finally he puts a stop to it, gesturing back to Doyoung.

“Alright you guys!” Doyoung says. “We’re all gonna be hanging out at camp together this week, we’ll see each other around, so we’re gonna get to know each other with a rock paper scissors tournament!”

“The rules are simple!” Taeil interjects, stepping forward. “Let’s say I go up against Jaehyun, like so!” They play a quick game, and Taeil defeats Jaehyun, who groans disappointedly, shaking his head. “Jaehyun lost, so he’s gonna become my cheerleader!” Just as Taeil says, Jaehyun gets behind him and starts chanting his name as Taeil goes up to Doyoung and challenges him. Doyoung wins, and his camp cheers as the high schoolers groan disappointedly. 

“Now Taeil and Jaehyun are both my cheerleaders!” Doyoung says. “And you keep playing until there's one victor, with everyone cheering for them.” He looks out over the field. “Alright everybody! Begin!”

Jaemin spins in a circle, looking for someone to challenge, and the first person he sees is Jeno, his cabin standing right beside Jaemin’s. He makes a beeline for him, walking past his cabin and Jeno’s to challenge him, holding his palm out flat, fist ready to go. Jeno rolls his eyes, but obliges him, and to Jaemin’s delight, he wins. Jeno sighs, long-suffering, and goes behind Jaemin, chanting his name in his ear. 

“Jaemin! Jaemin! Jaemin!” Jeno’s voice is constant and steady, and even after he eventually loses to one of his campers, a freshman named Taehyun, he and Jeno walk beside one another as they cheer Taehyun on. 

Eventually, Taehyun loses to a Sherwood camper named Sunwoo, and Sunwoo wins the whole tournament, the high schoolers enthusiastically chanting his name, and cheering when he beats the last kid. Some of the high schoolers hoist him up on their shoulders, high fiving him and ruffling his hair, and Jaemin grins, approving. Sunwoo will remember that positivity for the rest of the week, and it will remain a good experience in his mind forever.

Jaemin leaves the game happy and satisfied, but it’s just the calm before the storm. 

»»——⍟——««

“Jaemin, are you and Jeno dating?” 

Jaemin freezes at the words, his hoodie halfway over his head as they get ready for breakfast Monday morning. He snaps out of it, finishing pulling on his hoodie, face carefully rearranged so he doesn’t give anything away. “Uh, no? Why would you think that?”

“Come on, Jaemin, it’s so obvious!” The camper in question, a junior named Kwangmin, rolls his eyes, unimpressed. “I was talking to Yejun at dinner yesterday — he’s in Jeno’s cabin you know — and we both agree that you two are _clearly_ together.”

“We’re not though,” Jaemin says, frustrated. The other kids have stopped getting ready, curious eyes on him and Kwangmin. Jaemin sighs, folding his arms and looking around at them. “You all think this?” The kids look around at each other, and after a moment, shrug and nod. Jaemin groans, and Kwangmin grins, triumphant.

“I know you’re not supposed to tell us, Jaemin, but it’s okay!” Kwangmin says, nodding understandingly. “We know the truth.”

“We’re _not_ dating!” Jaemin says, flustered, but his protests fall on deaf ears. “We’re really not!” _If only,_ he adds to himself. 

It’s terrifying that even his campers can see through him, that they can see how Jeno makes his heart race at one hundred miles an hour, how he robs the breath from his lungs, how to Jaemin, it seems as though he stole the stars from the sky to put them in his eyes instead. It’s terrifying, because if a bunch of high schoolers can tell and are bothering him about it, there’s no way they haven’t told Jeno too, trying to get _him_ to admit to it. 

He’s forced to face his fear when the counselors are allowed into the dining hall first and Jeno joins him in the breakfast line, saying, amused, “You know, my whole cabin is convinced we’re dating.”

“Oh really,” Jaemin breathes, eyes darting behind him over to his cabin, all of them throwing winks and thumbs ups his direction as they see him talking to Jeno. “Mine too.” 

Jeno chuckles, rolling his eyes. “Kids, am I right?” He says, clapping Jaemin on the back. “They’re so oblivious.”

“Haha, yeah,” Jaemin says, smiling. _Funny, coming from you._

“Yeah,” Jeno says, rolling his eyes. “You and me, dating? They’re crazy.” Jaemin’s heart stops in his chest, twitching a little bit in pain before giving up and wilting altogether. 

“Yeah,” He says, plastering a smile across his face and taking another sip of his coffee. “Totally crazy.”

»»——⍟——««

Jaemin has a hard time waking up Wednesday morning. His limbs feel like they’re made of lead, his eyelids heavy and desperately wanting to drag themselves closed, but he resists, pushing his way out of his sleeping bag and forcing himself to stand, the floor of the cabin freezing against his feet. He looks longingly at his campers, all still fast asleep at this early hour, and starts moving, getting ready as quickly as he can to avoid the cold. 

He leaves the cabin exhausted, barely awake as he pushes the doors of the Homestead open and joins the others sitting in a circle on the ground for the counselor’s meeting. Renjun shakes his head at Jaemin’s exhausted state and pulls Jaemin's head onto his shoulder. Jaemin sighs gratefully, letting his eyes fall shut as they wait for some more people to arrive.

The low hum of voices fills the room, and Jaemin feels a tap on his shoulder, so reluctantly, he opens one eye blearily. 

Jeno grins. “Good morning, sleeping beauty,” he says.

Jaemin, quite certain that doesn’t look anything close to a sleeping beauty, blinks the other eye open and straightens, taking his weight of Renjun’s shoulder and running a hand through his messy hair before turning and glaring halfheartedly at Jeno. 

“It’s way too late in the summer for me to be waking up this early,” Jaemin says, fighting a yawn. 

“I think we all empathize,” Jeno says. He looks around Jaemin. “Wouldn’t you agree, Renjun?”

Renjun snorts. “If not for me drinking a total of three Yerbas before coming to this meeting I’d be dead asleep on the floor right now.” He shrugs. “Fourth week of camp slump.”

“I already can’t wait for break,” Jaemin mumbles, already halfway through letting his eyes fall shut once again. 

“Lucky for you,” Jeno says, and suddenly Jaemin feels Jeno’s elbow in his side, making his eyes shoot open to focus on him again. Jaemin frowns at him, but all is forgiven when Jeno holds out one of the mugs from Vernon, filled to the brim with steaming hot coffee. “I brought you your hell-creation of a caffeinated beverage.”

“Five shots of espresso?” Jaemin asks, eyes wide, as he makes grabby motions for the mug with his hand. Jeno obliges him, passing over the cup and smiling. 

“I thought you changed it to three?” he says, raising an eyebrow. Jaemin rolls his eyes and takes a sip, and sure enough, he can taste the five shots. Jeno knows him so well. 

“What my parents don’t know won’t hurt them,” he says, taking another long sip as Taeil enters the Homestead, effectively ending their conversation. 

They go over the schedule, and it’s clear that all of the staff is feeling the effect of Week Four slump, eyelids drooping and most clinging to their own mugs of coffee or cans of Yerba Mate. Taeil assigns breaks, and he and Jeno are assigned break together during free time. Jeno grins at him when Taeil announces it, and Jaemin vaguely registers that this is the third day in a row that they’ve had break together. Not that Jaemin is complaining, it’s just one hell of a coincidence, and probably the most times he’s ever had break together with one person at camp in a week. Maybe God really _does_ hate him. 

The coffee that Jeno gives him helps, but tragically, Jaemin’s body is so desensitized to caffeine at this point that by the time free time rolls around and he’s ready to go on break, he feels as though he could sleep for a week. 

Luckily, Jeno seems to share that sentiment, if the bags under his eyes are anything to go by, and doesn’t even bother to ask about hanging out at break. They tiredly wave goodbye in the common area, both heading off to their respective cabins to sleep. 

Jaemin slips on pajama pants, pulls the curtain across the window, and sets an alarm on his phone before flicking off the lights and sliding under some of Yangyang’s spare blankets, all of his own up in the other cabin. 

Barely a few minutes have passed before there’s a tentative knock on the door, and Jeno peeks his head in. “Hey, Jaem?”

“Huh? Yeah?” Jaemin struggles to sit up, and Jeno approaches tentatively, biting his lip.

“Is it okay if I sleep in here? Hyuck needs the lights on because he’s having to do some paperwork for his internship, and I don’t want to bother him or anything —” 

“Jeno, of course you can sleep here,” Jaemin says tiredly, already pulling Yangyang’s blankets back to make some space as he reaches over to grab one of his largest hoodies from his bag, open beside his bed. He knows that Jeno gets colder than he likes to admit, and there’s no way his short-sleeved t-shirt is going to cut it. He tosses the hoodie Jeno’s direction and curls up underneath the blankets, closing his eyes. 

A few seconds pass and Jaemin feels the bed dip slightly under Jeno’s weight, his socked feet accidentally brushing up against Jaemin’s own. Jaemin can’t help but want to snuggle closer, especially when he’s so tired and Jeno is so warm. 

He slowly drifts off, the sound of Jeno’s slow breathing comforting in the relative silence, giving him something to focus on other than the sounds of camp off in the distance. 

He wakes far earlier than he would have liked at the sound of his phone alarm. Jeno’s fingers are in his hair, his legs tangled together with Jaemin’s own under the blankets, and Jaemin’s mouth is dry and his eyes are crusty from the late afternoon nap. He opens his eyes to meet Jeno’s, but he’s still completely and totally asleep. 

He looks pretty like this, dark hair mussed and his face totally relaxed. Reluctantly, Jaemin extricates himself from Jeno’s grip and clambers over him to turn off his phone alarm. The sound stops and makes way for silence as Jaemin yawns, pulling the curtains open again before trying to wake up Jeno.

He rubs Jeno’s arm, shaking him gently awake. Jeno’s eyes are bleary as they look around. “Oh, Jaemin? Is break almost over?” His voice is deeper than usual, rough with sleep, and Jaemin resists the urge to shiver. 

“Yeah, we have…” He checks his phone. “About ten minutes? Just enough time to walk across campus to meet them at Vernon.”

“Cool,” Jeno says, clearly still fairly out of it as he swings his legs over the bed and slips one of his shoes on the wrong foot. Jaemin snorts, shaking his head in fond amusement as he watches Jeno frown cutely, finally figuring out which shoe goes on which foot. They stand to leave, Jaemin grabbing his backpack from where he dropped it at the door, and Jeno pauses. Jaemin turns, questioning.

“Wait, do you want you hoodie back?”

Jeno looks adorable, somehow still dwarfed by the sweatshirt. Admittedly, it’s not as massive as it is on Jaemin, but it’s still oversized. Jeno’s glasses are perched upon his nose, his hair flat, and Jaemin is weak. 

“No,” he says. “It’s fine. You should keep it, it looks good on you.” 

“Okay,” Jeno says, burying his hands in the pocket, a small smile growing on his face. “I’ll give you one of mine in return.” Then, almost absentmindedly, he adds, “This one smells really good.”

Jaemin tries his best not to react, just smiling his normal smile and nodding. “Sure thing,” he says, and Jeno grins. 

Jaemin can’t bring himself to regret it, not even when his campers start to make suggestive comments after seeing Jeno wearing _his_ hoodie. 

Jeno keeps his word and brings Jaemin a sweatshirt of his own, and Jaemin, weak as he is, can’t stop himself from wearing it the next day. It may increase the dating rumors, but it’s soft and smells like Jeno, and Jaemin loves it almost as much as he loves seeing Jeno wearing his own hoodie.

Renjun raises his eyebrows at the two of them when they walk into the counselor’s meeting the next day wearing one another’s hoodies, but Jaemin just sticks his tongue out at him childishly and thank God, Renjun doesn’t say a word, dropping the subject before it’s even broached with an exasperated eye roll.

So Jaemin allows himself the hoodie. He knows it’s probably one of the last things he’ll ever get.

»»——⍟——««

Each morning after breakfast, Taeil leads High School Camp out of Vernon and onto the Big Green Field and has them stand where the grass fades away into bark for energizers. 

Energizers were always one of Jaemin’s favorite camp activities, and admittedly they’re one of the reasons he enjoys counseling High School Camp the most after Adventure. When he’s on resource, he sometimes finds himself going to do energizers with High School Camp regardless, and whenever he leads Adventure Camp, he tries to have them do it at least once.

Thursday morning’s energizers start as Sicheng quickly runs through a few key dance moves, and the music begins to play. Sicheng, along with Taeil, Yuta, and Jaehyun lead from the front, and the counselors help to encourage the kids to participate.

It comes as easily as breathing at this point — Jaemin admittedly isn’t paying a ton of active attention, seeing as he can probably dance these routines in his sleep. He stands next to one of his shyer campers, a small boy named Jihae, planning to try to encourage him to come out of his shell, and it isn’t until halfway through that he realizes Jeno is right beside him, dancing along.

Energizers had been another thing that had brought them all closer. A lot of kids didn’t like energizers, not willing to fully do the cheesy dance moves, afraid of seeming uncool. But it’s how Jaemin and Jeno became friends with Donghyuck, who always danced full out like them. Through Donghyuck they met Renjun, and through Renjun they met Yangyang, and before long, they were all thick as thieves.

So yeah, Jaemin smiles at Jeno. Energizers hold a very special place in his heart, and Jeno’s one of the reasons why. He looks around almost subconsciously for Donghyuck before remembering that he’s off with Sherwood somewhere, so he’s stuck with Jeno.

Still, he makes the most of it, the two of them dancing side by side, slowly migrating to either side of Jihae, smiling and dancing enthusiastically. “Come on Jihae!” Jaemin calls as the song hits several hard beats and he and Jeno engage in an imaginary lightsaber battle.

Jeno is grinning. “I used to think it was dumb too,” he says over the music when Jihae rolls his eyes, unamused. “But you have to give it a shot!”

“Come on, come on, try it now!” Jaemin says as Taeil, Yuta, Sicheng, and Jaehyun get closer together, throwing their arms over each other’s shoulders, swaying back and forth. Jaemin scrambles to copy them, one arm already over Jihae’s shoulders alongside Jeno’s on the other side, his free arm drawing a second camper, a kid from Jeno’s cabin named Jacob, closer to him. 

They sway back and forth together, singing along to the song, and Jihae begins to smile and join in at the sight of Jacob participating so fully. Jaemin looks up and meets Jeno’s eyes, grinning, when after the first energizer ends, Jihae goes to stand by Jacob for the next, leaving Jaemin and Jeno beside one another again.

“Reminds me of myself,” Jeno says absentmindedly, and Jaemin follows his gaze over to the pair as Jihae laughs at something that Jacob says. Jaemin smiles, turning back to Jeno, whose eyes are full of nostalgia as he watches them.

He elbows him. “Snap out of it, _Lee_ ,” he says, grinning. The music has started again, and Jaemin is already raising his hands into the air along with Taeil and the LCs. “Time to focus on outdancing everyone here. Unless you don’t think you can keep up?” 

Jeno smirks, and begins to dance.

»»——⍟——««

On the night of the Big Game as Taeil, Jaehyun, Sicheng, and Yuta explain the rules and the premise, the counselors gather in the props yurt, all putting on various random costumes to play the parts of station leaders. 

Others dig out simpler costumes, masks, and pool noodles, ready to run around and tag the kids with the pool noodles as they run from station to station in the first half of the game, trying to get enough plastic gold doubloons to start the second phase of the game, which will basically be a glorified version of Capture the Flag, the stations gone and all the campers left to fend for themselves against their counselors. 

The yurt is filled with friendly chatter as they pull the costumes on. Jaemin helps Lucas clamber into one of the two inflatable T-Rex costumes they own just as Sicheng is helping Guanheng into the other across the yurt. They waddle out of the tent to Taeyong, who is armed with a leaf blower and ready to inflate them, an amused smile on his face. 

They finish getting ready, and Taeyong doles out instructions for which area each of them should frequent, explaining to each station leader what minigame the kids were supposed to be playing. Jaemin is thankful to be one of the counselors tagging campers for the night. Jaemin helps Jisung do his facepaint now that all the masks have run out, and they leave the yurt together, chatting as they walk down Nazarian towards their assigned area up in Challenge Course Canyon. The sun has set, and the light is beginning to fade altogether from the sky, making way for inky black.

They’re about to turn to walk past Vernon into the Canyon when Jaemin hears his name called, faintly, and he stops in his tracks, Jisung pausing along with him to see who it is.

It’s Donghyuck, waving his arms wildly as he approaches. It’s clear he ran after them as he draws even with them, breaths heavy and labored. “Hey,”

“Hey,” Jaemin says, scanning him up and down, eyebrows raised. He shifts his weight and crosses his arms, giving him more time to recover. “You good?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Donghyuck says, waving Jaemin’s words away. “I just need someone to go grab some more doubloons from the prop yurt? I don’t have any for my station and everyone else is already gone or they’re by themselves. I figured since there’s two of you, you could help me out?”

Jaemin sighs. “Fine. I’m the best friend ever.”

“Yes, you are, thank you so much,” Donghyuck says quickly, already rushing away, comically large wizard’s hat very nearly slipping off his head as he runs. Jaemin just sighs and shakes his head before turning to Jisung. 

“I’ll see you after I deal with this.”

“Good luck!” Jisung says cheerfully, waving as he makes his way up to the Canyon. Jaemin waves and then turns back, walking back down along Nazarian, past the office, and into the props yurt. 

He begins scanning the shelves, looking for the extra doubloons, but they’re nowhere to be found. Frowning, he pulls the racks of costumes and props aside, searching to avail. He’s on the verge of giving up when the door to the yurt opens again. Jaemin turns and sees Jeno falling through the doorway, mid-laugh, saying, “Renjun, you don’t have to push me!”

As soon as the words leave his lips, the door to the props yurt slams shut, and Jaemin feels his heart sink to the pit of his stomach as he hears a key turn in the lock. He is not about to get locked in a yurt alone with Jeno. Not now.

He feels the panic begin to settle in, his breathing getting shallower as he stalks straight over to the door and rattles the doorknob, trying to unlock it. Jeno, clearly disoriented, startles at his sudden presence, saying, “Jaemin?”

Jaemin barely registers Jeno’s voice, slamming his hand against the door. “Renjun, this isn’t fucking funny.” His voice is deadly serious, but there’s no response from outside, and Jaemin has a sinking feeling that Renjun has already left to give them some sort of _privacy_. 

He huffs, trying not to let himself get angry, and lets his hand fall from the doorknob in defeat. He retreats across the yurt and sits down, closing his eyes, and tries to remember that this kind of meddling is all well-intentioned, that none of his friends could possibly know how upset they’re making him by ignoring his clear desire to drop the subject of his feelings towards Jeno _forever_. 

He doesn’t speak, doesn’t acknowledge the elephant in the room — that is, Jeno himself — and decides he’s just going to wait it out. No amount of meddling, well-intentioned or not, is going to force him into doing something he doesn’t want to do.

Silence falls and Jaemin hears Jeno sigh and sit down himself, leaning his head back against the wall.

“I don’t understand why our friends would lock us in here like this…” The words are mostly to himself, muttered under his breath out of mild annoyance, but they crash over Jaemin, piercing him through, and he just. He can’t do this anymore. Any remaining semblance of self-control he has slips away and he opens his mouth and says,

“Jeno, do you remember the King Swing?” It’s abrupt, and Jeno looks over in surprise. Jaemin’s eyes are faced straight forward, his tone flat, his arms folded up over his legs, bent to support how he’s sitting against the wooden structure on the inside of the yurt. 

“Yeah, of course. Senior year, right?” Jeno’s voice is cautious, and for some reason, it only upsets Jaemin more, the storm inside him brewing, whipping itself into a fury. “You were so scared to jump off.”

The King Swing is infamous at camp: a harrowing test of bravery, the highest, most exciting challenge course element available. Jaemin can remember the first day he tried it with frightening clarity. He remembers the walk along the path that dropped off by his right into the creek. He can remember putting on a chest harness for the first time, and being belayed up the wobbly ladder fifteen extra feet into the air. He can remember Ten’s soothing voice as he tethered him to the platform, and he can remember stepping up to the edge of the platform and being clipped into the actual swing.

But the thing he remembers the clearest of all is the crippling terror he felt, looking down at the one hundred foot drop into the creek and the paralyzing fear that the rope wouldn’t hold him. 

“I was terrified.” Jaemin says now, and though his eyes are fixed on a rack of costumes across from him, he can feel Jeno’s eyes on him from where he sits to his left. 

“But you jumped off, Jaemin,” Jeno says, and it’s almost urgent, like he knows Jaemin is getting at something, but he can’t quite put his finger on what. “You jumped off, and it was _amazing_.” 

And yeah, Jaemin had.

He’d closed his eyes, asked for a countdown, and with his friends' voices in the background, he’d stepped off the platform into open space. He’d screamed and the rope had caught him, and he had gotten the closest a human being ever could to knowing what it was like to fly. Jeno was right, it had been amazing. 

“It was amazing. It was inevitable that I jumped off.” Jaemin pauses, and the storm swells up inside him. His eyes water and he barely holds the storm at bay, squeezing his eyes shut and holding back his tears with such ferocity that his head starts to hurt. “Just as inevitable as my _stupid, reckless_ crush on _you_.” The words are said as a throwaway, the words rushing from Jaemin’s mouth with a hiss, almost burning.

Jeno looks floored from where he can see him out of the corner of his eye. Jaemin pushes himself to standing, anger coursing through his veins like fire, and somewhere in the back of his mind he knows that it’s not Jeno’s fault, but right now it sure feels like it is. 

“I was the most scared I’d ever been standing on that platform,” Jaemin spits out. “The most scared I’d ever been in my whole life. But figuring out that I love you?” Jaemin shakes his head and turns to meet Jeno’s eyes, wide and terrified. Jaemin’s eyes are narrowed, sharp and black like tempered obsidian. He scoffs. “The King Swing could never compare.”

Jeno sucks in a breath and Jaemin paces agitatedly, continuing. “But there you sit, _Lee Jeno,_ in your foolish obliviousness, wearing _my goddamn sweater,_ completely ignorant to the fact that our friends have been setting us up _all summer long_ because I’m so _fucking obvious.”_ Jaemin spits out Jeno’s name like it’s an accusation, his voice unraveling bit by bit, tripping over his words. Angry tears are streaming down his face, and he closes his eyes again, clenching his fists. He sinks back to the floor against the wall, hugging his knees to his chest and choking out broken sobs.

Silence falls again, and Jaemin can only assume that Jeno is disgusted, horrified. Until —

“But. You’ve told me now. You’ve jumped off the platform.” Jaemin looks up, and Jeno hasn’t moved an inch, sitting stock still, his eyes still on Jaemin’s. 

But the thing about the King Swing is that though the initial jump is wonderful, the longer you stay in the air, the more it begins to hurt. Your body weight is dragging you down, and the harness is digging into your legs to keep you flying. Every second after the swing begins to slow down is more and more agonizing until your thighs are burning, desperate for you to step back onto your own two feet again. 

“We’ve lost our chance, Jeno,” Jaemin says, and it’s quiet but harsh, with a conviction that clearly shocks Jeno. He recoils, tries again. 

“How can you say that? We may live far away for now, but there’s still a year of college, another summer at camp —”

“Not for me!” The words explode out from Jaemin, and he lets go of his knees, slamming his fist onto the ground. The words rip from his throat ragged, and he struggles to breathe through his tears, his throat thick with tears and snot and all of the things he knows he can’t have. “I’ve graduated, Jeno! I fucking graduated! I killed myself all year long, desperate to get out of education early, and I did it. I’m a doctor.” He says the last part with defeat, and seems to run out of steam. His arms, previously waving in the air, fall to his side. He breathes heavily into the silence.

His voice is broken and thin when he speaks again. “And what do I have to show for it? A piece of paper and a full-time job that starts next month that stops me from ever coming back here, the one place I always want to be, ever again. Away from all my closest friends, and away from you.” He laughs, but it’s half hearted and watery, and so unlike him that it’s scary. 

Jeno isn’t laughing, and when Jaemin looks at him, all cried out, his eyes red and scratchy, he’s gone pale, horror painted across his face clear as day.

“No…” He says, and he rubs his hands into his eyes. “No, no, _no_. We had another summer, we had more _time —”_

Jaemin smiles, and the water makes his eyesight go blurry. He can feel his bottom lip shaking. “Time’s up,” he manages, and that’s when Jeno kisses him.

It’s painful, and Jaemin can taste the salt. He can feel where Jeno’s hand has come up to hold onto the back of his neck, pulling Jaemin into his lap like Jaemin might disappear if he lets go for even a moment. His eyes fall shut, and more tears fall, staining Jeno’s cheeks along with his. 

It’s a terrible first kiss, sloppy and reckless and filled with a pain so acute that it stings. Jaemin winds his arms around Jeno’s neck and his legs around Jeno’s waist and leans into him as Jeno’s lips move against his with desperation. It feels like years before they pull back, foreheads still touching, breaths heavy and mingling in the small yurt. 

And then Jaemin is unwrapping himself from Jeno, straightening their shirts, and beginning to stand. Jeno catches his wrist. 

“Nana.” Jaemin stops, already turning away. He takes a rattling breath, bracing himself. He turns back, and Jeno’s eyes are pleading, wide and desperate. “Please. Let us try.”

Jaemin can’t bear to say anything back. He kneels back down beside Jeno, facing him head on. He brings his other hand to his wrist and peels Jeno’s fingers away. He takes Jeno’s face in both hands and smiles, tears pouring down his cheeks, love shining in his eyes. He leans forward and places a final kiss on Jeno’s forehead. Jeno’s eyes fall shut.

“Goodbye, Jeno.” 

When he brings himself to open them again, Jaemin is already halfway out the door, streaking by an alarmed Renjun, the key to the yurt still in the lock.

“Jeno. What the hell happened?” Renjun is standing in the doorway, his eyes wide and his skin more pale than usual in the poor light.

“Jaemin…” Jeno can’t continue. He buries his face in his hands and bursts into tears. Renjun rushes to his side in horror, but his concerned words sound like they’re coming from underwater. All that Jeno can think of is Jaemin, of the pain in his eyes and the salt on his lips. Jeno’s fingers come up and ghost across his own lips, the feeling of Jaemin’s own already beginning to fade. 

_Time’s up._

»»——⍟——««

Later that night, Yangyang bursts into their shared cabin, his face pale. The big game is still raging outside, and Jaemin can hear the happy laughs and shrieks of the campers, the whacking of the pool noodles against the concrete as the other counselors make chase. 

Jaemin lies motionless, staring blankly up at the ceiling, his cheeks stiff with salt. In the doorway, Yangyang sniffles. Jaemin looks up, and tears are slipping silently down his face. Jaemin feels a pang from somewhere deep inside him. He never meant to hurt anyone, he’d just wanted to enjoy his last summer without the burden of the reality that it was his last.

_And that went just peachy,_ he thought to himself acerbically. 

He struggles to sit up, propping his body weight up on one elbow. He’s just so tired. 

“Yangyang…” he holds his other arm open, his voice croaky and quiet from abuse. Yangyang lets out a small wail and practically throws himself into Jaemin’s arms on the bed. 

For a long time, they just hold each other, Yangyang’s tears the only audible sound. Jaemin has no tears left, but his insides feel as though they’ve been scraped out of him, leaving him hollow. 

“Jaemin,” Yangyang is quiet, mumbling into Jaemin’s shoulder, not letting up on the hug at all. “I’m going to miss you so much.”

And at that, Jaemin’s heart, already in pieces, slips out of his chest entirely. He shuts his eyes and wishes that it was only the beginning of the summer, not the end. He wishes that he’d told the truth from the start. He wishes that Yangyang’s tears were for a more worthy subject. He wishes that he won’t have to see Renjun’s disappointment or endure Hyuck’s loud wails and demands to keep in touch. He wishes he had the privilege of not having to break Lee Jeno’s heart. 

He wishes that he could be okay, that he could be sure that graduating early was the right choice, that leaving Jeno alone after their kiss had been for the best. But looking back on it now, it all feels wrong, like the world had been tilted on its axis. 

But what’s done is done, so for now Jaemin just holds Yangyang tighter and hopes for a brighter tomorrow. 

»»——⍟——««

By the time Jaemin is waving goodbye to his campers on Saturday morning, a fake smile plastered across his face, he’s completely spent, but there’s still the staff party and one more night together before they pack up and go home early on Sunday. Despite his earnest desire to go back to his staff cabin and sleep the afternoon and the staff party away, there’s more to camp than Jeno, and Jaemin knows he would regret disappearing without bidding them all goodbye.

With that thought in mind, he drags himself to the Homestead and mingles, eating the party food and chatting animatedly with his coworkers. Around halfway through, Taeyong announces that Jaemin’s leaving, and the announcement is met with wails and upset protests, but an outpouring of support and well-wishes for his new job.

“To Jaemin!” Jaehyun says, raising his glass, and the staffers follow suit, their voices ringing out a happy _To Jaemin!_ Jaemin just smiles and accepts the support with a laugh. From the corner of the room he can feel Jeno’s eyes on him, frustrated. Jaemin pretends not to notice and accepts a hug from Kun, who’s whispering in his ear that he’s so proud of him. 

The whole night, Jeno lingers around the edges of Jaemin’s vision, as he chats with their friends, laughing and smiling and reminiscing on the summer, like Jaemin should be doing. But no matter how hard he tries, Jaemin just can’t seem to put the emotions brewing inside him aside to make time for any happiness. All he sees when he closes his eyes is Jeno kneeling on the ground, desperation in his eyes, fingers around his wrist as he whispers, oh so quietly —

_Please. Let us try._

Jaemin opens his eyes and sips his soda as he wills the tears to fuck off back to where they came from. He made a choice, and it’s the right one. It _is_. So why does every bone in his body want nothing more than to accept Jeno’s offer?

He’s busy moping by the hastily assembled snack bar, a foldout table with various chips and sodas and of course, Yerba Mate, when Taeyong approaches him. “Jaemin,” he says, and there’s already sympathy in his tone. 

Nope. Jaemin doesn’t think he can handle Taeyong’s extreme kindness without crying at this point, but he can’t think of a way to politely get out of this conversation either, so he reluctantly turns to face Taeyong, smile already firmly in place. “Oh, hey Taeyong!”

Taeyong smiles knowingly, and there’s a hint of sadness in his eyes as he gazes at Jaemin.

“We’re really going to miss you next summer Jaemin,” he says, and it’s overflowing with warmth and acceptance and god, Taeyong makes Jaemin want to collapse into his arms and just cry it all out. His smile wobbles. Taeyong picks up a can of Sprite from the table and pops it open. He takes a sip and looks at Jaemin over the can. 

“You know, lots of doctors have sanctioned time off to come work in the Redwood Center for the summer,” he says. His tone is quiet, careful, like Jaemin is some kind of timid woodland creature and Taeyong’s doing his best to not frighten him off. “It’s pretty common. Lots of hospitals and healthcare companies let their doctors volunteer at things like summer camps. It makes them look good.” 

Taeyong takes another sip of Sprite and chances another look at Jaemin. He’s frozen stock still and his face is blank, the smile long gone. His drink is hanging loosely in his hand.

“I thought I’d let you know in case there was anything…” Taeyong purses his lips and considers his next words carefully, his fingers drumming on the side of the soda can. “Holding you back, so to speak.”

Jaemin doesn’t hear him. He crushes his empty can in his fist and breathes deep, trying to get ahold of himself. From deep inside, he feels a spark of hope jump up, unbidden, and with it he can feel a door he’d thought long shut re-opening, thoughts flying through his mind, his blood pumping and his ears roaring.

“Right,” he says, and his voice sounds foreign to his own ears. “I’ll think about it.” He puts the can down jerkily, his hands shaking. “Uh, if you’ll excuse me…”

He doesn’t wait for Taeyong’s response, turning tail and leaving as quickly as possible out the nearest door. The cool of the evening air is a shock in his lungs and he sinks down onto the bench outside the homestead, putting his head in his hands.

Suddenly the pain is back, sharp and stinging as before and now it’s so much worse because _God they have a chance._ They have a _chance_ , and Jaemin isn’t foolish enough to throw it away. 

But what if Jeno doesn’t want it anymore? What if it’s too late now, after Jaemin’s harsh words in the yurt?

Jaemin gulps down air, trying to still his shaking. Jeno had been, for so, _so_ long, an impossible dream. He’d had a juvenile crush in middle school but he’d dismissed it, thinking it would go away, that he was only temporarily captivated by Jeno’s smile and eyes. But God, Jaemin falls in love as easily as breathing, and before he knew what was happening, he’d been in too deep.

He’d thought everything was fine until senior year, when Jeno brought his girlfriend to camp with him. Jaemin had wanted to hate her so badly, but there was just no way to — her smile was bright and kind and she clearly cared for Jeno more openly that Jaemin ever had. But most of all, Jeno was happy with her, and at the end of the day Jaemin could never, ever begrudge him that. 

But it still hurt to watch him crack jokes with her that he used to only crack with Jaemin, or to watch him spend free time with her instead of Jaemin and their other friends. Renjun had sighed knowingly when Jaemin gazed longingly at them, lying side by side on the Big Green Field weaving matching lanyards, and dragged Jaemin off to play GaGa Ball, Yangyang and Donghyuck already waving them over.

The next summer, when Jeno came back without her, Jaemin couldn’t help but feel a sick sense of relief, though it was followed immediately by guilt. The pain in Jeno’s eyes was too raw whenever her name was mentioned, and so Jaemin never asked how it had ended, and they slipped back into being Jeno and Jaemin as easy as breathing. 

And every single year Jaemin had thought, _it’s fine. I don’t need to rush it. I’ll tell him eventually._ And so Jaemin had done nothing but watch Jeno grow up beside him through the years, his cheekbones becoming more chiseled and his shoulders filling out each summer until suddenly Jaemin had his diploma in his hand and the crushing realization that he’d wasted too much time. 

All along he could have been holding Jeno’s hand in his, they could have been exchanging loving text messages and out-of-sight cheek kisses. Jaemin could have been free to drive up on the long weekends and visit Jeno; it wasn’t really _that_ far from where Jaemin lived, he'd just always made excuses. After all, he and Jeno weren’t anything more than best friends.

Jaemin breathes in, shuddering. He opens his eyes, and Jeno is right there, so close that he could reach out and grab him. So he does.

“Jaemin,” Jeno is surprised. “I saw you leave. Did Taeyong upset you — Nana, _you’re crying._ What’s wrong?” Jaemin blinks.

“I am?” He brings his hand to his cheeks, and sure enough, they’re wet. “Oh, I am.”

“Jaemin,” Jeno says, and he gets no farther before Jaemin is crashing his lips against his, and God, if Jaemin falls in love as easily as he breathes, he kisses like there’s no oxygen left in the room. He’s no holds barred, take no prisoners, and it’s nothing like their first kiss — this one tastes like hope, and it buzzes along Jaemin’s skin like electricity, igniting his senses and sharpening his focus until Jeno begins to kiss back. 

The electricity fades and it falls into a peaceful warmth. Jaemin can feel Jeno’s body against him, warm and solid despite the chill of the night that surrounds them. They part and sink down next to one another on the bench. Peace bubbles up inside Jaemin’s heart, and they’re quiet for a long time, fingers tangled together, eyes bright.

They sit side by side in silence, the sounds of night all around them. The wind rustles the tree branches far above them. Crickets chirp, and the muffled sounds of the party drift out of a crack in the door, shining with warm light and laughter. Jeno’s eyes reflect the moonlight.

Jaemin’s cheeks are flushed from the cold, his lips red and swollen, his eyes dry and bloodshot from the hundreds of tears he’s shed in the last twenty-four hours. Jeno looks wrecked beside him on the bench, eye bags sunken into his face, his eyes rimmed with red and his hair mussed from the wind — or maybe Jaemin’s hands.

Still, Jaemin thinks he looks beautiful. 

Maybe this is still a mistake. Maybe Jaemin is being reckless. But when he looks over to Jeno and says, “Okay. Let’s try,” and a smile begins to spread across Jeno’s face like a stolen sunbeam in the dead of night, Jaemin can’t help but believe that maybe, _just maybe,_ this had been the right decision all along. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for coming along on this ride with me! I hope you liked the fic!
> 
> PLEASE leave comments (and kudos), I want to hear your thoughts! 
> 
> Until my next fic, feel free to follow me on twitter @r0binisms for writing and nct related updates! I can confirm that this fic WILL be receiving a prequel chronicling the development of the camp found family and all sorts of 00line shenanigans! 
> 
> Thank you all again for reading this fic, it really means the world! 
> 
> Love you all!
> 
> -Robin
> 
> please check out this carrd about the black lives matter movement [here](https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co)


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